We only lost 1-0 but had we been playing a good team yesterday then we would have suffered a far more humiliating thrashing. That may seem disrespectful to Preston but they were poor and yet they were still significantly better than Pompey in every area of the pitch.
The Pompey defence were an absolute shambles yesterday. Dickinson again looked uncomfortable as North End's wingers continued to get the better of him whilst it was Sonko's slip that allowed Paul Hayes to tap in the goal for the hosts.
Aaron Mokoena was just as poor alongside him so it tells you something when Hayden Mullins was our best defender on the pitch yesterday, doesn't it?
The midfield were just as bad as the defence. Brown seemed disinterested and Hughes again showed all the forward vision of a blind man with his passes sideways and backwards.
Marc Wilson; a defensive midfielder, was our most creative outlet on the day and he came closest to scoring for Pompey with a swerving long range shot in the first half.
But let's not forget how poor the strikers were too. Ciftci took far too much time on the ball, attempting needless stepovers instead of running towards goal and Tommy Smith barely saw the ball and was forced too wide when he did.
I couldn't have been the only one to believe that David Nugent would at least have some impact against the club that he made his name with, but he wasted the one chance he had and was easily marshalled by the Preston defence.
The only shining light to come from this dark defeat was the performance of Jamie Ashdown.
The Pompey 'keeper has already come in for plenty of stick this season and his performance yesterday wasn't without error, especially as his one rash moment of the game saw him rounded by Joshua King, only for Sonko to come back and prevent him slotting into an empty net.
But that mistake aside, Ashdown made some crucial saves and blocks to keep the scoreline respectable. It's just a shame that the men in front of him in Blue shirts were extremely poor and so his work wasn't rewarded.
Overall, as a team performance this was right up there with the worst of them. Preston won virtually every 50/50 ball, were playing at a quicker tempo and showed much more fight and endeavour than us.
On the other hand, Pompey were sluggish, couldn't pass wind and our defence had the organisation of a Sulaiman Al-Fahim takeover bid. That's not good for a team under a manager who has a reputation for getting defences organised.
If anyone thought that we would have a comfortable season in the Championship only needs to look at this performance to know that this is going to another struggle against relegation.
Pompey Player Ratings
Jamie Ashdown: 8 - Kept the score down.
Hayden Mullins: 6 - Better than the other back three.
Aaron Mokoena: 4 - A shadow of the man who played so well against Spurs last April.
Ibrahima Sonko: 5 - Costly slip for the goal but did make a goal-saving challenge later on.
Carl Dickinson: 4 - Poor passing and defending wasn't much better.
Michael Brown: 4 - Didn't seem bothered.
Richard Hughes: 5 - Tried hard as always, but still can't pass forwards.
Marc Wilson: 6 - Slightly better than anyone else in blue.
Nadir Ciftci: 4 - Lost the ball more often than not.
Tommy Smith: 5 - Dealt with easily by the PNE rearguard.
David Nugent: 4 - Virtually anonymous.
Substitutes
Liam O'Brien
Joel Ward (Brown 72): N/A - Didn't see much of the ball, like his team-mates.
Marlon Pack
Matt Ritchie (Hughes 63): 5 - Never really in the game.