Cook: No excuses '“ Pompey were second best

Paul Cook admitted his Pompey side were well-beaten by Leyton Orient.

Cook gave an honest assessment of his team’s shortcomings as they went down to a 1-0 loss at Fratton Park today.

The League Two table now shows the Blues in seventh place, with Accrington Stanley having two games in hand below them after the loss.

Cook made no bones about the quality of his side’s performance.

He said: ‘We were second best for the majority of the game.

‘Orient had clear chances, good chances and caused us problems

‘I could criticise different aspects, but we were second best and Orient must take great credit.

‘We haven’t played well. That’s the reality of the game.

‘We now have to lick our wounds and go again.

‘We have 18 games to give our supporters something to cheer about.’