Portsmouth manager Paul Hart defended striker Tommy Smith's performances after opting to axe him from the side against Wigan.

Smith had started Pompey's last seven Premier League games but made way for on-loan Frederic Piquionne following the striker's Carling Cup brace against Stoke in midweek.

In Smith's absence, Aruna Dindane scored a hat-trick and Piquionne bagged his first Barclays Premier League strike in a 4-0 drubbing of a woeful Wigan side at Fratton Park.

But Hart insisted his decision was no indication of how the former Watford man has performed since joining the Blues in the summer.

"Tommy's been excellent, just like Danny Webber when he's had an opportunity," explained Hart.

"He's worked tirelessly and been absolutely brilliant. When I signed him I read somewhere that he's a Championship player but the boy's proved more than anyone else that he's a Premier League player."