A response is needed after loss at Accrington
Gareth Evans hopes that Pompey’s defeat at Accrington can act as a wake-up call.
The Blues were well below their best at the Crown Ground, as a four-match winning run came to an end.
In a game that was extremely short on entertainment value, Paddy Lacey popped up with a moment of magic to secure three points for Stanley.
And Evans knows that Pompey have to accept that they were not good enough – and provide a response.
He said: “It was one of those days when we just weren’t at it and it’s difficult to explain why that was.
“Sometimes when you go on a run of wins you can rest on your laurels a bit and maybe that was the case with us.
“We’ve done well in the last few weeks, so we have to take this one on the chin, regroup and be ready to go again.
“Accrington didn’t really create much and we never put us under much pressure, while we huffed and puffed without having much success.
“It was a flat performance and we were not as fluid as we have shown in the last couple of matches.
“Sometimes it takes something like that to make you realise that perhaps you’re not as good as you think you are.”
Injuries to Drew Talbot and Adam Buxton have seen Evans fill in as an emergency right-back in recent week.
He said: “It’s not my best position and I don’t see myself there in the long-term, but I’d rather be playing there on the pitch than sat in the stands.
“I’d go in goal if that’s what the gaffer wants, so I just need to crack on and do what I can to help the team.”