Pompey's promotion challenge suffered another blow when they were deservedly beaten 1-0 by Leyton Orient at Fratton Park yesterday.
Marc McNulty had the best chance of the match right at the start when he was played through and then forced a save from Alex Ciask in what was a dire performance otherwise.
The first half was a dull affair in particular with both sides struggling to carve out any chances. Pompey seemed to look lost due to the amount of changes in the team whilst playing an unfamiliar 4-4-2 formation which has hardly reaped dividends whenever it has been utilised.
Orient were hardly a threat either but that changed after the break as they turned the screw as Kevin Nolan somehow managed to hit the crossbar from all of two yards out.
Their goal did arrive soon after though as Kyle Bennett lost possession for the umpteenth time in the game and after a scrappy passage of play Jobi McAnuff produced a superb curling strike from distance that Ryan Fulton had no chance of saving.
The single goal defeat was flattering to Paul Cook's men as Jay Simpson missed a sitter before planting a header straight at Fulton. Armand Gnauduillet also hit the post late on when he only had the keeper to beat.
Pompey's only real chance of the half came in the five minutes of stoppage time (it may as well have been fifty) when a goalmouth scramble was cleared but in honesty if the ball had found the net the equaliser would have been completely undeserved.
Boos rang out at full time to mark what was unquestionably Pompey's worst performance of the season. Everything from the team selection, tactics and attitude of the players were wrong and there can be no positives taken from such a rotten performance.
Why did Paul Cook drop two of his best performers in Ben Davies and Gareth Evans for the ineffective Michael Smith and Kieron Freeman? And why has he got his heart set on playing 4-4-2 now? It doesn't make any sense and for the first time this season Paul Cook deserves the criticism he has received from fans, even if it hurts him and draws a bad reaction.
It would be unfair to lay the blame totally at the manager, however, as some of his players really let him down yesterday. Bennett in particular was lightweight and dispossessed countless times, Gary Roberts was wasteful and aimlessly hoofed the ball too often whilst Michael Doyle has already condemned his own lacklustre performance.
After all, how are two strikers going to score when chances aren't being created for them and the defenders are constantly busy due to a lack of protection from their midfield? At least Fulton had a good game in goal...
Who knows just how much this defeat will hurt Portsmouth's promotion prospects? A few of the other teams had their games called off and so this was a missed opportunity to put some pressure on them.
The form is worrying as Pompey have only won one league game out of six and now seem to struggle to score goals against any team that has a half-competent defence. Hopefully Paul Cook can find a solution to his problems in time for the huge Bristol Rovers match at Fratton Park next weekend.
If not, then those boos that rang out at the final whistle yesterday will be repeated even louder come Saturday.
Pompey Player Ratings
Ryan Fulton: 7 - Couldn't be blamed for the defeat.
Kieron Freeman: 5 - Unimpressive debut.
Christian Burgess: 5 - Not quite at the races.
Matt Clarke: 6 - Solid if unspectacular.
Enda Stevens: 5 - Given the runaround at times.
Gary Roberts: 5 - Offered little.
Michael Doyle: 5 - Not his usual self.
Ben Close: 5 - Struggled under pressure.
Kyle Bennett: 4 - Far too lightweight and wasteful.
Michael Smith: 4 - Didn't do anything.
Marc McNulty: 5 - Failed to score the only good chance he had.
Substitutes
Alex Bass
Ben Davies
Adam Webster
Adam Barton
Gareth Evans (Smith 60): 5 - Introduction meant reverting back to 4-2-3-1 formation but it never changed anything.
Adam McGurk (McNulty 73): N/A - Anonymous.
Conor Chaplin (Bennett 73): N/A - Posed something of a threat and maybe should start the next game.