Frustrated Joe Morrell lifts lid on Portsmouth dressing room inquest as standards fall 'long way short' against Leyton Orient

Joe Morrell blasted Pompey standards continuing to fall ‘a long way short’ following the latest promotion set-back.

And he revealed a dressing room inquest was held in the aftermath of their dismal defeat to Leyton Orient in a bid to find the crucial answers.

The Blues found themselves 3-0 at half-time, while Colby Bishop missed a penalty, as they crumbled after conceding the first goal.

There was no coming back, despite switching to a back three, with a lacklustre second half which barely troubled Orient.

Mousinho traditionally spends little time in the dressing room before carrying post-match media duties - yet on this occasion, stayed plenty longer to instead hold a heart-to-heart with the players.

Morrell told The News: ‘We are a long way short of the standards we have set, which is disappointing.

‘We spoke in the dressing room afterwards, although I don’t think it was anything which hasn’t been said before really. It wasn’t a case of an old-school hairdryer or anything like that, it’s not the way the manager operates, which is good.

‘It’s just about making sure we maintain our standards, which we have definitely slipped below over the last couple of games, and it’s just conversations around how we get better.

‘We say we’ll try not to get too high or too low. I think we’ve been fairly good at not getting too high this season, now it will be about can we make sure we don’t get too low and too down.

‘We approach it analytically and take a step back, understanding where we can do better, which I am sure we will do.

‘It’s constructive talking, that’s certainly the way the manager works, I haven’t seen him lose his temper too much since he has been here, which is more common in modern football.

‘The days of hairdryer treatment and people throwing stuff around the changing room have probably gone.

‘We have to look at ourselves individually and it’s down to the management team to look at us collectively - and see where we go from here.’

Despite taking five points from their last six matches, the Blues remain one point clear at the top of League One.

And Morrell admitted they deserved nothing from Saturday’s game.

He added: ‘Fine margins created big problems for us against Orient and, if you concede two set-pieces at home, it makes it difficult.

‘When you have two or three who are below the standard, the rest of you can raise everyone else up. When you’ve got 8, 9, 10 below the standard, it becomes a bit more difficult.’