There was a sense of deflation as Pompey fans trudged out of The Valley following a disappointing defeat on Monday evening.
But Danny Cowley’s job is to make sure his players do not stay down for long on the back of a poor performance.
They have an immediate chance to put things right with a visit to The New Lawn to face Forest Green this weekend.
And Cowley is fully focused on making sure Pompey are able to produce an improved display against last season’s League Two champions.
The Blues boss said: “We don’t get too caught up in the emotion, although there’s always frustration when you work hard and come up short.
“We were in training the very next day, so had to watch the game back that night, prepare a meeting and take the learning from it.
“That’s therapeutic in itself because you understand the ‘whys’ and are able to put that into context to help support the players.
“It’s a process we follow whether we win, lose or draw and we’ll let the rest of the world ride the football rollercoaster, while we try to stay level.
“That sounds really boring, but I think it’s really important that we do that. We’ve only lost two this season.
"It’s a process we follow whether we win, lose or draw and we’ll let the rest of the world ride the football rollercoaster, while we try to stay level."
“We’re a good team and are significantly better than we were at this stage last season, with a couple of key injuries just knocking our rhythm a little bit.”
Saturday’s League One contest will see Pompey face Gloucestershire outfit Forest Green for the first time.
Cowley said: “I know that we have never played them in a competitive game, but my Braintree side will have come up against them.
“My Lincoln team certainly did and the year we got promoted, we had a real battle with them and finally shook them off.
“They’re an ambitious club and did really well to last season, although lost some key players and their manager off the back of that success.
“But I think they still have the same philosophy, like to dominate the ball and have had some good results.
“It will be tough, but the challenge for all of us is to get back to the standards that we’ve set ourselves.”
Marlon Pack is suspended for Saturday’s game, although he and Michael Jacobs were also both injured at Charlton.
Cowley said: “We’re waiting for more information on those two, but when the door closes on one, an opportunity rises for another.”