NIGEL Adkins was pleased to see his Saints side enter the Christmas period with a one-point lead at the top of the Championship following this afternoon’s derby draw at Fratton Park.

He admits he would have taken a top 10 place at this stage of the season.

Adkins said: "There are 10 or 15 teams with aspirations of getting into the Premier League. I just wanted to be in with a shout and be in the top 10. We would have been happy with that.

"We've got the January period when there will be a lot of speculation and transfer rumours. It's then just a case of giving ourselves a chance to win the race and get promoted.

"We've led that race for over three months now. That shows we have a consistency about our play and we have good players.

"We play the right way and score a lot of goals.

“Our desire is to pick up more clean sheets and results away from home now."

The best Pompey v Saints derby reports, reaction and pictures are in tomorrow’s Daily Echo.