Boss says Blues gifted Orient goals
Paul Cook has demanded a response from his side after their 3-2 loss at Leyton Orient.
There was little post-Christmas cheer for Pompey as they were beaten in the league for just the third time this season.
It all looked so promising when Connor Essam turned the ball into his own net early on, only for Adam Webster to be sent off before the hosts scored from the resulting penalty.
They added further goals either side of the break and were reduced to 10 men themselves, but Gareth Evans’ strike proved to be just a consolation.
And Cook was unhappy that Pompey offered their opponents so many gilt-edged chances.
The Blues boss said: “We took the lead and looked in the ascendency, but we can’t afford to give away the goals that we did.
“And you’re always going to end up chasing the game when you’re down to 10 men.
“Whether it’s a red card or not, we’re not going to change it. The referee’s made the decision and that’s football.
“We carry a bit of pedigree about us in this division – and rightly so – because the support we get is amazing.
“So we have a duty to do things properly and that’s something we haven’t done for a while – we’ve conceded far too many goals away from home.
“Big credit to Orient because they’ve been on a bit of a patchy run and it’s a good win for them, but we have to be better than that.
“We haven’t got that ruthless streak in us yet and we wobbled a bit at times. If you’re a strong team then you can’t offer teams any opportunities.
“When we were 3-1 we got embarrassed into having a bit of a go and that shouldn’t have to be the case.
“It’s something we’re going to have to learn from quickly and there are things we have to eradicate from our game.
“We’ve got a tough couple of games ahead of us now, so we have to stand up and be counted.”
Watch Cook’s thoughts on the game below or subscribe to Pompey PlayerHD for extended interviews with the manager and Michael Doyle.