There was relief all round when Marcus Harness bundled home an 86th-minute equaliser at the Crown Ground.
But after creating a host of chances against Accrington, Danny Cowley was frustrated that his side only had a point to show for their efforts.
Ronan Curtis had given Pompey an early lead, only for second half goals from Harry Pell and Matt Butcher to turn the contest on its head.
So Cowley was at least pleased to see his side show plenty of character to salvage something from the contest.
The Blues boss said: “It was a good performance from us and we created enough chances to probably win five football matches.
“We showed resilience and determination – the qualities that have perhaps been questioned recently.
“There was some really good stuff from us and we caused an awful lot of problems, with 19 shots and probably seven or eight clear-cut opportunities.
"We showed resilience and determination – the qualities that have perhaps been questioned recently."
“But we haven’t been able to take the final action, while Accrington have had three efforts on target and scored twice.
“Marcus was a real threat, as was Ronan, while John Marquis worked hard and Reeco Hackett came in and showed a lot of nice things – particularly in the first half.
“So there were a lot of positives from our display, although ultimately we haven’t got the right value from that.
“I was particularly pleased that after going 2-1 down, we showed the response we did. It’s a travesty that we’ve drawn, let alone if we’d lost it.
“We needed to show more aggression, more character, more grit and more determination, so we’ve all had to step up in those areas.
“The fans who travelled could see the players running hard for the badge, although I’m not asking for plaudits for that because it’s a prerequisite.
“I’m disappointed that we haven’t won – because we deserved to – but it stopped the rot ahead of a run of home games.”