Their was previous little festive cheer for Pompey in their final away game before Christmas.
A chastening afternoon at Accrington saw them fall to a 4-1 League One defeat, despite taking the lead.
Ronan Curtis stooped to head them in front in the first half, only for Ellis Harrison to send the ball into his own net just before the break.
Stanley then scored three times following the restart and Kenny Jackett was in no doubt over who deserved the points.
The Blues boss said: “We got the first goal of the game through a good header from Ronan, but after that it was a frustrating afternoon.
“Accrington put in a number of good crosses and had chances and we probably took the lead against the run of play.
“You need to make an accurate assessment and we looked too open, while they had more chances – they deserved their win.”
“The own-goal was disappointing just before the break and Ellis just misjudged the flight of the ball to get our opponents back into it.
“We tried to take the game to them at the start of the second half, but the goals undid everything and took away the opportunity for us.
“We can’t really have any complaints because they scored four goals and hit the woodwork on a couple of occasions. We looked too open at times.
“You need to make an accurate assessment and we looked too open, while they had more chances – they deserved their win.”
Pompey were forced to change their entire back-line at the Crown Ground, with Lee Brown set for a spell on the sidelines.
Jackett said: “He’s got an Achilles problem and will see a specialist on Monday, but we’re not optimistic about him coming back soon.”