The Blues first-team coach was putting in some intensive work on the training pitch this week to drag the back four up to the levels they consistently hit last season.

Although David James and Glen Johnson are away with the England squad, Sol Campbell, Sylvain Distin and Hermann Hreidarsson are back at the Eastleigh training ground attempting to make sure the errors that crept into their game at Chelsea have been put to bed in time for Monday's home clash with Manchester United.

And Jordan has warned the back four and the goalkeeper that they cannot afford to look back on the glories of last season and must prove themselves all over again.

Jordan said: 'Defensively, I think we can do better. I'm not taking anything away from Chelsea because we know what they did last season and we studied them in pre-season.

'We just didn't play the way we can play – we're better than that, but we've got to show it.

'Last season is in the past now – it's finished.

'There is a trophy there that's been won and the position we gained in the Premier League secured our place this season.

'But it's about what happens today and in the future.

'We will put a lot of work in this week – both on and off the field – and there is certainly room for improvement.'

While some were quick to dismiss the performance at Stamford Bridge as a bad day at the office, Jordan prefers to pick the bones out of the display and identify the areas that need attention.

Jordan said: 'You don't draw a line under it. It's there to be analysed, whether you win the game or not.

'When you win the game, you still take factors from it to use for the future.

'But when things haven't gone well, there are still parts of the game that you have done well and you use those points.

'Sometimes you have to come up with the reasons why things haven't gone so well.'

And the Pompey coach was not looking to hide behind any excuses for the club's slow start to the new season.

Jordan said: 'I think we were pretty average on the day. We were looking to play better than that and it was a disappointing start to the season.

'I think we were well beaten and I don't think there were any complaints.

'We were playing against a team who were runners-up last season and a whisker away from winning the Champions League. The opposition could not have been any fiercer.

'We are not making any excuses, though – we didn't play. It had nothing to do with any decisions that didn't go for us.

'If you start looking at the penalty that they had and the two appeals that we had, you start looking for excuses.

'We didn't deserve to get anything from the game.'

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