Boss says Blues have to stay focused for whole game
It was not the way Richie Barker wanted to start his Pompey career.
The Blues were looking bright and creating chances against Newport, with Patrick Agyemang twice going close.
But it was defensive frailties that once again cost them as Michael Flynn scored twice in quick succession to secure victory for the Welsh club.
And Barker knows that there is plenty to work on as he tries to lead Pompey away from the League Two danger zone.
The Blues boss said: “People who have been here a while have said that pretty much sums up our season and we’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do.
“There were positives – we’ve had two shots cleared off the line and hit both the post and the crossbar.
“I thought we were the better team in the first half after weathering a bit of a storm early on and we had more shots.
“If you do all that and then come away having drawn 0-0 then you can say it just wasn’t our day.
“But at the moment it’s probably too easy to score goals against us and we need to stop that because then it becomes a constant uphill battle.
“The disappointing one for me was the second because we’d worked on it and we knew what was coming.
“We’ve got to get it through to the players as soon as possible that you can concede a goal and there’s still a long time to go.
“We looked quite organised until that, but I’ve said to them that you can’t be organised for 95 per cent of the time – that looks to be an issue at the moment.
“I’ll try to be as positive as I can and there were some good things, but if we’re not careful then we could end up in a bit of a mess.”
Barker now has to prepare his side for the hectic Christmas schedule, which sees Pompey play five matches in just 15 days.
He said: “In an ideal world I’d like to not play for three weeks, but we’ve got lots of games coming up.
“We need to put the work in because we won’t get through it just by turning up. Everyone needs to stand up and be counted.”