Defender confident that Pompey will improve
Marcos Painter does not believe defeat to Fleetwood will define Pompey’s season.
An unfortunate Sonny Bradley own-goal was enough for the Cod Army to leave Fratton Park with all three points.
It means the Blues have just two victories from their opening eight League Two fixtures.
But Painter is confident that Pompey have what it takes to start climbing the table.
The defender said: “It was frustrating. I don’t think we deserved to win the game, but we didn’t deserve to lose it either.
“We conceded a sloppy goal – it’s not what you want to see. You can’t point fingers – it’s ricocheted off our keeper and then our defender.
“It’s just one of those ugly goals you get sometimes and I hope we get some going for us this season.
“It’s the first game we’ve lost in a while, but it’s a minor blip and there’s still a long way to go in the season.
“Fleetwood were well organised and solid, but it wasn’t the best we can play. We know we can do more.
“We weren’t totally firing, but that’s something we can work on as a team going forward.”
Painter made his first appearance since going off with a hamstring injury at Mansfield last month.
He said: “Fleetwood are tipped to finish at the top end of the table, so it was a good game to come back in for.
“I enjoyed being out on the field – nobody likes it on the sidelines – but it’s unfortunate we couldn’t get a win.”