ROVERS boss Tony Parkes praised Egil Ostenstad for the way he responded to the challenge of leading the attack on his own against Portsmouth at Fratton Park.

The former Southampton striker has struggled to get back into the side since suffering a deadleg at Port Vale three and a half weeks ago.

But injuries to Ashley Ward and Nathan Blake presented him with the chance to remind Parkes what he can do and he didn't disappoint, capping a tireless performance with his sixth goal of the season.

"Egil was excellent. He played very well and held the ball up superbly for us," said Parkes.

"He worked very hard for us and, without that in the team, that formation doesn't work."

Ostenstad also enjoyed his rare start and he hopes his match-winning performance might earn him an extended run in the side.

But the Norwegian international won't be taking anything for granted - even if the enforced experiment did come off. "Like everybody else, I would like to play all the time - and I didn't think I did too badly when I got a chance earlier on in the season. "But I got a knock at Port Vale and the lads then went on to play well against Bolton so I suppose there wasn't any point changing anything.

"There are a lot of good players here and you've just got to accept you can't play all the time.

"I've got no problems with that and I'll just keep working hard.

"It was difficult playing up front on my own but I got a lot of good passes and that made it easier for me.

"I think the plan worked, though, because we got what we came here for.

"I thought we fully deserved the victory.

"We showed great character after going a goal down and we played some good football.

"Portsmouth had some pressure as well but we defended superbly."

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