Dominant before the break and scrappy after it.
That was Kenny Jackett’s assessment after Pompey came away from Accrington with a point following a 1-1 draw.
They carved open plenty of chances, but would have gone in behind at the interval had Craig MacGillivray not saved Billy Kee’s penalty.
Oli Hawkins broke the deadlock by converting a Gareth Evans free-kick, only for Michael Ihiekwe to grab an almost immediate equaliser.
And Jackett knows his side – who still sit at the League One summit – needed to make the most of their spell in the driving seat.
The Blues boss said: “We’re always looking to win and we’re disappointed to come away with just a draw, which shows you how far we’ve come.
“For 20-30 minutes we played really well and probably needed to score during that period, especially with the strong wind.
"We’re disappointed to come away with just a draw, which shows you how far we’ve come."
“There’s mixed feelings because you really need to score when you’re on top if you want to be dominant.
“In terms of our overall play and territory we managed to capitalise on that, but ultimately didn’t get a goal.
“It looked a penalty for me, but then it was a fantastic save from Craig to make up for his mistake. It was excellent.
“We were on top at the start of the second half, looked strong and obviously went ahead, only to give a goal away pretty soon afterwards.
“That was frustrating and then the game became very scrappy and the wind meant it was far easier for them to put the ball in our box.”
Pompey made four changes to their team at the Crown Ground, with the biggest surprise being Jack Whatmough’s removal for Christian Burgess.
Jackett explained: “We have to be careful with Jack. He’s a key player for us, but there have been some injuries there in the past.
“So we don’t want a repeat and I’ve felt he looks leggy at times when there’s been three games in a week, so I made the decision to bring in Christian.”