Pompey arguably deserved more from their recent League One draws with Plymouth and Charlton.
But Danny Cowley admitted that his side came up well short in their clash with Burton at the Pirelli Stadium.
Both of the Brewers’ goals came from the visitors losing possession, with Tom O’Connor and Daniel Jebbison the grateful recipients.
Reeco Hackett-Fairchild came off the bench to reduce the deficit with a fine free-kick, but an equaliser was not forthcoming and Cowley knows that Pompey must do better.
The Blues boss said: “Burton pressed the ball with a huge intensity, energy and aggression, while we couldn’t find solutions to that.
“There are times when you’ve got to show a bit of humility, win your duels and really earn the right to play.
"The people of Portsmouth deserve more than the run we’re giving them at the moment."
“I don’t think we did that and we needed to find ways to get them off us, whether that was going down the sides or around them.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the space to play our football on this occasion and ultimately came up short.
“We made three changes after going 2-0 down because we looking for more passion and fight – I think the boys who came on provided that. It was a good goal from Reeco.
“I’m just disappointed because we work really hard and the people of Portsmouth deserve more than the run we’re giving them at the moment.
“We now have to be big enough to accept the criticism that is coming our way and take that on the chin.
“It’s about looking for the solutions to find a way that we can respond – and that’s exactly what we’ll do.
“I’m a fighter – I always have been. I’ve never given up on anything in my life and don’t intend to start now.”