A run of three successive draws has dented Pompey’s hopes of making a late charge towards the play-offs.
And yet the failure of others to take advantage of that means the gap to sixth spot is just six points with four games remaining.
But Marlon Pack knows that they cannot keep relying on results elsewhere to bail them out of trouble.
He found the target in a 1-1 stalemate at Shrewsbury and wants to see more consistent displays from the Blues.
The midfielder said: “It’s a similar story to the past couple of games and we’ve fallen short, so it’s hugely disappointing.
“Either through a lack of quality or some decisions that have gone against us, we’ve failed to get the win.
"We were a bit unlucky not to get all three points, but we need to start at the right tempo and be more clinical."
“We’ve seen the other results and they haven’t been too bad for us, although we need to take care of ourselves.
“In the end we were a bit unlucky not to get all three points, but we need to start at the right tempo and be more clinical.
“We forced it a bit more after they had a player sent off, only for our final ball let us down and our desperation to win meant we made the wrong decisions.
“There have been games this season that we should have won, but there’s another opportunity on Tuesday to give a good account of ourselves and play with more freedom.”
Pompey appeared to have two good shouts for a spot-kick turned down following challenges on Reeco Hackett and Connor Ogilvie.
He said: “There was a blatant penalty. We’re footballers, so we’re all moaners on the pitch, but there were a few decisions that didn’t go our way.
“It’s frustrating, but we need to save our energy and focus on our performance, rather than waste it on the officials.”