Lee Brown admits that Pompey’s confidence is currently very frail.
But the vice-captain knows that it is the responsibility of the players to improve their stuttering form.
The Blues created plenty of chances in their latest outing at AFC Wimbledon, but were unable to take any of them.
And that meant Terell Thomas’ stoppage-time header into Craig MacGillivray’s net left the shell-shocked visitors with nothing.
Brown said: “You can imagine that everyone’s so frustrated after dominating the game like we did and losing.
“There were a lot of chances and things just aren’t going for us. We’re all disappointed that we didn’t take those opportunities.
"We’re not where we should be in the league – it’s as simple as that. We’ve underachieved and should be higher."
“We had a good amount of possession and do I know the reason why we’re just not scoring at the moment? No.
“Confidence is massive in football and those decisions about whether to take another touch makes everyone edgy – fans and players.
“Players are human beings and the frustration does affect them. They don’t want to be the one to make a mistake. We have to get over that.
“You’re only going to get out of that by working hard and winning football matches. It’s down to us to do that and recover from this sticky patch.
“We’re not where we should be in the league – it’s as simple as that. We’ve underachieved and should be higher.
“It’s important we get our heads down and then hopefully our luck will turn, which will help the confidence grow.
“We’ve got another game on Tuesday night, so we can’t get too low. It will be tough, so we have to stand up and show character.
“There’s not one player in that dressing room who wants to lose and nobody is sacking it off. But we’re all culpable for where we are and have to accept responsibility.”