Jackett: Pompey have to earn fans' belief again

The Blues boss knows his men need to rebuild supporters’ faith in his team after their season hit a low ebb against Blackpool.

Pompey go to Bradford this weekend with 11 games remaining of their campaign.

Jackett believes it’s now entering a season-defining period for his side and is determined momentum doesn’t drain away.

So it’s up to his players to win back confidence from their club’s followers.

Jackett said: ‘It’s always the case (players should lift the fans). I think that our fans want to get behind the team and latch on to the positives. That’s good.

‘So that’s our responsibility to put the performances on the pitch which encourage them.

‘If that can be the case, with a big club like this, the momentum helps you considerably.

‘It’s around this time it needs to happen, though.

‘When you get to 11 or 10 games left it’s make-or-break time.

‘After a good win at Fleetwood our supporters came in numbers looking for us to capitalise against Blackpool.

‘They were looking for a win to be followed by victory to get some momentum going.

‘The last 20 or 30 minutes were an anti-climax and frustration for everyone.

‘We want to look forward to a very good game at Bradford coming up now, though.

‘There’s still enough games.

‘I understand, in terms of the process, we’re looking for some consistency on the pitch, but we’re in touching distance.

‘We’re ninth in the league and for myself as manager I’m desperate the season doesn’t just peter out.

‘It’s about chasing for as long as you can and never giving in.’

Jackett has stated he wants to guard against the Blackpool defeat proving too damaging, but he still feels it’s important his players learn the lessons of the weekend loss.

He said: ‘You can’t brush it under the carpet. You can’t brush losses or periods in games under the carpet.

‘We have to be strong enough to say we need to be better in certain areas.

‘Could our finishing be better? Yes. Could x, y and z be better? Yes.

‘For 55 minutes on Saturday it was an even game.

‘They got the goal but my disappointment was what happens when we go 2-0 down.

‘When we lost our centre-forward the game petered out.

‘You’d want a big or bigger finish.

‘It seemed, though, we didn’t quite have the power or firepower to be able to affect the front part of the pitch.

‘They were able to hold us off quite quickly.

‘We need to give a good, honest assessment to the players of what we need to do.

‘From there we need to focus and look forward. We need to make sure it’s something we can use to constructively improve in the future.’