Omar Bogle had a penalty saved as Pompey drew with Barnsley to record a fifth successive League One stalemate.

It was a much improved performance from the Blues, who looked dangerous throughout and created some decent chances.

But Bogle missed the best one when his spot-kick was saved and the Tykes came close to capitalising at the other end by striking the woodwork.

Kenny Jackett made three changes from the side that drew with Bristol Rovers earlier in the week.

Bogle returned to lead the line, with Viv Solomon-Otabor out wide and Bryn Morris in midfield in a 4-1-4-1 formation.

It meant that Oli Hawkins, Jamal Lowe and Gareth Evans all dropped to the bench, but Lloyd Isgrove was not permitted to feature against his parent club.

There was a minute’s applause before kick-off in memory of Pompey hero Mick Kennedy, who passed away earlier this month.

Fratton Park was bathed in sunshine and it seemed to have a positive effect, with the hosts looking bright and the fans roaring their team on.

Ronan Curtis was a constant menace down the right and was continuously looking to take on the opposition defence.

When one of his free-kicks was only partially cleared to the edge of the box, a low volley from Ben Close was blocked.

There were half-chances for Jacob Brown at the other end, with one effort hooked behind by Anton Walkes and another flashing past the post.

Pompey almost broke the deadlock midway through the first half when Solomon-Otabor whipped the ball into the box, where it was glanced narrowly wide by Morris.

The visitors’ best opportunity before the break came when Brown sent Alex Mowatt’s corner past the post from a few yards out.

Barnsley were having plenty of shots, but none of them were particularly threatening and an effort from Cauley Woodrow rolled tamely into Craig MacGillivray’s arms.

Another attempt from the striker was blocked by Close and Dani Pinillos fired the loose ball wildly off target.

The Blues had a better chance on 39 minutes when Bogle slipped a pass through to Solomon-Otabor, but Adam Davies was quickly off his line to make a vital save.

It was an encouraging end to the half for Pompey and Morris dinked a pass into the box, where a stretching Bogle could not get enough power on his header.

Half Time: Pompey 0 Barnsley 0

The hosts picked up where they had left off following the restart, although Bogle could not guide Lee Brown’s cross on target at the far post.

Persistent work from Christian Burgess then allowed Close to release Curtis down the right and his delivery had to be turned behind by Ethan Pinnock.

Morris was producing a lively display and he fired over from long-range before teeing-up Curtis, whose shot was too tamely hit to trouble Davies.

There were chants of ‘Micky, Micky Kennedy’ from the Fratton faithful on 57 minutes, with the midfielder having passed away at the age of 57.

The Blues soon had an excellent opportunity to break the deadlock when Dimitri Cavare dived in recklessly on Solomon-Otabor inside the area.

Referee Charles Breakspear pointed to the spot, but Davies guessed the right way to push Bogle’s penalty clear.

Barnsley came close to making them pay for that miss, as an angled effort from Pinillos narrowly cleared the crossbar.

Jackett made a change on 77 minutes, with Solomon-Otabor afforded warm applause as he made way for Lowe.

But the Blues survived a scare when Brown met Mowatt’s corner and headed the ball down, with the ball ricocheting against the post.

James Vaughan replaced Bogle for the closing stages, as Jackett decided to add fresh legs to his forward line.

Both sides looked capable of finding a winner as the seconds ticked down, but they ultimately had to settle for a share of the spoils.

Pompey (4-1-4-1): MacGillivray; Walkes, Burgess, Clarke, Brown; Naylor (c); Curtis, Close, Morris, Solomon-Otabor (Lowe 77); Bogle (Vaughan 84)
Booked: Clarke
Subs not used: Bass, Haunstrup, Donohue, Evans, Hawkins

Barnsley (4-2-3-1): Davies (c); Cavare, Pinnock, Lindsay, Pinillos; Mowatt, McGeehan (Dougall 90+2); Brown, Bahre (Adeboyejo 55), Thiam (Hedges 75); Woodrow
Booked: McGeehan
Subs not used: Walton, Jackson, Green, Styles

Referee: Charles Breakspear

Attendance: 18,624 (1,944 away fans)