LuaLua's loyalty to Portsmouth survives web taunts

Lomana LuaLua, the Portsmouth striker, has vowed not to let internet abuse force him out of Fratton Park.

The Democratic Republic of Congo international has promised to stay at the South Coast club despite his hurt at cruel taunts on websites and he said his match-winning penalty against Watford last Saturday was the first part of the healing process.

He admitted that he considered leaving the club after reading insults on Pompey messageboards calling him a wife-beater and saying they were glad his son was dead. But LuaLua, who lost his six-month-old son Jesus to pneumonia in January and was recently arrested - the released without charge - after a bust-up with his fiancée at home, has pledged to battle on at Portsmouth.

"Sometimes you get an opportunity to turn bad things into good. That's why I wanted to take the penalty last Saturday," LuaLua said. "You think to yourself things can't keep going wrong and that you have to be man enough to try to change things. I don't take penalties normally but I saw this one as a chance to turn something negative into something positive.

"I thought about leaving. When you're upset, the first thing you can sometimes think is that you want to run away. But I'm a fighter. I've signed a contract for another three years here. I love it playing for Portsmouth."