Guy happy with strong performance at Bournemouth
Guy Whittingham was pleased with Pompey’s defensive solidity at Bournemouth.
The Blues’ were beaten 2-1 by the newly-promoted Championship side at the Goldsands Stadium.
But it took a long-range Mohamed Coulibaly strike and a deflected Harry Cornick effort to beat Phil Smith.
And Whittingham was believed his side looked a lot stronger after conceding three at the weekend.
The Blues boss said: “We had some issues with our defending against Charlton on Saturday and I think there were massive improvements.
“Bournemouth play good football and they test you all the time, but we were much better organised.
“We conceded the first goal in the first half and that was a great strike from distance, although if we’re being critical, perhaps we could have done more to close the player down.
“But we defended really well as a team – clearing headers out of the box and getting across the front post. I was really pleased with that.
“If we keep clean sheets then, with the quality we have going forward, we’ll be able to win games.
“The main thing we need to work is on is not giving the ball away so easily after we’ve worked so hard to win possession.”
Pompey have won two, lost two and drawn one in pre-season so far, but Whittingham is more concerned with his squad’s fitness levels.
He said: “We’re managing pre-season to make sure that we’ve got a full squad to choose from for that first game against Oxford.
“That’s the reason why we’re bringing lots of players on, although more are now starting to get 90 minutes.”