Boss reflects on first league loss
Paul Cook failed to get carried away when Pompey moved to the top of the table on Saturday.
So he will certainly not be going overboard after watching his side suffer their first league defeat of the season.
It was Exeter who inflicted the damage, with a goal in each half from David Wheeler and Arron Davies, before Gary Roberts grabbed a late consolation.
Cook was disappointed that Pompey were unable to reward their large home support, but felt there were plenty of encouraging signs.
The Blues boss said: “We’re obviously disappointed to lose our unbeaten run and be knocked off the top of the league.
“But that’s football and I honestly don’t think we could have done a lot more in that game.
“We had enough possession and got into the right areas of the pitch enough to score more goals than we did.
“Unfortunately, the cutting edge that we had on Saturday wasn’t there – although I thought it was Kyle Bennett’s best game for us.
“We had a couple of great balls that went across the box, but it just wasn’t to be. It wasn’t our night and we move on.
“There were a couple of positives in there, but the negative is getting beat in front of a massive crowd.
“Whether you’re first, third or eighth in the table – there is still a long way to go and we’ll keep striving to get better.
“If we’d have won we wouldn’t be promoted and because we’ve lost it’s not the end of the world.”
Exeter’s opener came after Danny Hollands had lost the ball, but Cook is refusing to point the finger of blame.
He said: “We’re asking our lads to play and pass it, so if we make a mistake in possession, that’s life.
“I’ll always stand behind our players. It’s easy to offer criticism, but there’s none from me for our players.
“Credit to Exeter because they came with a game-plan and left with the three points, so well done to them for that.”
Watch what Cook had to say about the game below or subscribe to Pompey PlayerHD for full interviews with the manager and Adam Barton.