Pompey's underachievers handed five-hour inquest

And Paul Cook is adamant the message has been delivered loud and clear to his underachieving players.

The Blues were kept in their dressing room more than 30 minutes after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Wycombe.

The players were also addressed by the management at their Hilsea training ground on Sunday morning.

Pompey yesterday regrouped ahead of tonight’s visit of Bristol Rovers in the Checkatrade Trophy.

And Cook is hoping more than a few choice words can necessitate a change in performances.

He said: ‘I’m not going to say what has been mentioned to the players, I am never going to manage my team through the papers.

‘Our lads have been in since Saturday and have been spoken to for about five hours.

‘They were in Sunday morning and it is not me trying to be a tough manager. Wycombe was not good enough for Portsmouth Football Club at Fratton Park.

‘I have let them know that in no uncertain terms and I have included me in them. It is us, we all come under that umbrella of Portsmouth.

‘Every club has a way of playing, an identity. We have shown times of being comfortable with our identity and shown at other times we don’t know what identity is.

‘Your identity comes from the training ground from Monday to Friday. Saturday is the big day of your life to show people how hard you are working and how good you want to be.

‘You would have thought they’d know my identity by now, but we have a way of going away from that, especially at Fratton Park at the minute. We lose what we are about.’