'Ruthless' - Expert tells Pompey what they must do after 'encouraging' Sheffield United performance

The Blues fell to a 2-1 defeat at Bramall Lane with Jesurun Rak-Sakyi scoring 17 minutes from time after Connor Ogilvie had cancelled out Gustavo Hamer's opener. Pompey had competed well away from home against a side competing for the Championship title.

Pompey put in a performance they could be proud of with the feeling that if they can deliver that level of performance in their remaining games of the season then they should survive. They must however improve in front of goal in their upcoming games against Cardiff City, Oxford United and QPR after failing to take their chances in South Yorkshire.

A statistical look on proceedings at the Lane saw Pompey muster up 16 shots with five landing on target. For the hosts, they had 11 with three landing on target and two of those ended up being goals.

It's now eight straight defeats on the road but given the level of opposition, the travelling faithful could be encouraged by what they saw. A big match awaits them at home against Cardiff on Tuesday where they have been good as of late, before a trip to Oxford United who have been in inspired form since Gary Rowett took over.

Pompey need to be more ‘ruthless’

‘Is missing good chances unlucky? No,’ said Whittingham to BBC Radio Solent in his assessment of the defeat to Sheffield United.

‘Not really.

‘They have got to be more ruthless in front of goal. We have talked about it before in tighter games when Portsmouth haven’t taken their chances. Today they had the chances to win the game.

‘It was an encouraging performance away from home. Don’t forget Sheffield United are second in the league. To have the opportunities and create the chances they had they played well.

‘The harder you work the more lucky you get. Did any luck go their way today? They shouldn’t have needed luck today with the opportunities they did create.

‘If they can build on this performance and take it to the away games that are coming up and obviously three big games coming up in Cardiff, Oxford and QPR at home, they’ve got to take these performances into those.’

Tackle on Callum Lang

A talking point was a challenge from Sydie Peck on Callum Lang in the dying moments of the game. Manager John Mousinho thought that the challenge could have broken Lang’s leg. Peck only received a yellow card for the tackle in what was one of four brandished to players from the host team.

‘When I was playing that would have been seen as a great tackle,’ Whittingham said.

‘It’s not allowed these days. I didn’t think it was that bad at first. It always looks worse on the replay and it was a follow-through.

‘He’s gone in to win the ball aggressively and he’s won the ball. It wasn’t even a 50-50 he’s won the ball but he has been very aggressive. You hope that Lang isn’t injured too badly from it.’

For your next Pompey read: Sheffield United 2 Portsmouth 1: Neil Allen's verdict - The unlikely ally convinced Blues will remain in the Championship