Boss bemoans lack of chances at Crawley
The cheer that accompanied the final whistle summed up the story of the game.
Crawley’s fans were delighted that their side had held on at home to claim a point against Pompey.
The visitors dominated possession in Sussex and spent most the match camped out in their opponents’ half.
But they were unable to find a winning goal, although Matt Tubbs did have one incorrectly ruled out for offside.
And Paul Cook admits that his side were lacking the clinical touch needed to claim all three points.
The Blues boss said: “We saw the way a team will celebrate getting a point against us because it’s a big fixture for them.
“That was the perfect example of the type of game we’ll probably face on many occasions this season.
“We were totally dominant in possession of the ball, but were just lacking that killer touch.
“That’s something we’re going to have to work on and we might have to change our style and go more direct.
“At the moment, though, we haven’t really worked on that and switching your system can sometimes lead to you losing the game.
“The lack of chances was our Achilles heel and I’m sure the supporters will have come away thinking that.
“We’ve seen Tubbsy’s goal after the game and it’s onside – clearly onside. I had a chat with the linesman afterwards, but they have tough decisions to make.
“It was a lovely bit of skill by Nigel Atanagana with his threaded pass, so we’re disappointed it wasn’t given. That was the quality moment from the match.
“I’m disappointed that we couldn’t open them up again and that, for all the good areas of the pitch we got into, we didn’t show enough quality.
“However, we’re still unbeaten in the league and there are a lot of positives that we can take from the evening.”
Pompey were backed by more than 1,700 fans at Crawley and they were in fine voice throughout the match.
Cook said: “The support was great. They’re a credit to the club and the way they travel to back us is superb.”