Boss discusses Crawley trip
Pompey have an immediate chance to recover from their Crewe frustrations.
A second successive opportunity to climb into the automatic promotion places was spurned with a home defeat at the weekend.
But victory at Crawley on Tuesday night would see them leapfrog Luton and Carlisle into third spot.
And Paul Cook knows that there is no use in looking back when there is such an important contest on the horizon.
The Blues boss said: “We must move on – and if we’d have won on Saturday then you would have got the same reaction from me.
“It’s not that I don’t want to speak about the performance – and there wasn’t a lot to speak about – it’s just that we want to focus on the Crawley game.
“By the time we get back to Fratton Park next Tuesday night to face Grimsby, we won’t have had time to blink.
“I said at the start of the season that how we manage disappointment is key – are we going to sulk or stand up and fight.
“So let’s try to go to Crawley and get a positive result that will see us climb up to third in the table.
“They’re having a fantastic season under Dermot Drummy and have got a style of play that’s very easy on the eye.
“The lads are very comfortable and they can change between three at the back or playing 4-2-3-1.
“On their day they can hurt anyone because they’ve got very good players – there’s quality running right through the team. We know that it’s going to be difficult.”
Pompey will be without long-term injury victim Curtis Main, while Amine Linganzi is also a doubt.
Cook said: “He’s suffering with a bit of fatigue because he’s played a lot of games in a short space of time. He’s not definitely out, but I wouldn’t say he’s definitely in the team either.”
Watch the manager’s thoughts on the game below or subscribe to Pompey PlayerHD for full pre-match video content.