‘I’m never scared of criticism, I'm never scared of adversity’ - Defiant Danny Cowley responds to Portsmouth critics after MK Dons backlash

And the head coach has pinpointed the key reason behind his side’s recent poor run of form.

Following the Blues’ dismal 2-0 defeat to MK Dons, his men endured a backlash in the stands and on social media from an angered Fratton faithful.

A run of one win in 11 league games has seen them drop from second in the table to 10th, leaving them five points adrift of the play-offs.

The defeat was arguably one of Cowley’s toughest weekends in charge at PO4, but he remains resilient – and is eying a winning return against Exeter on Boxing Day.

‘We had a really good start to the season,’ he told The News.

‘We won a lot of really tight games, got on the right side of those tight games. In recent league matches, we’ve come on the wrong side of those tight matches. We can understand the reasons why.

‘The only criticism I hear is on a match-day in the stands – and the supporters have been unbelievably good to us.

‘They were really frustrated and angry with us on Saturday and we understood that and accepted that.

‘That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt because it does; we're only human beings just trying to do a good job.

‘We lost the game on Saturday and accept the criticism that comes our way.

‘I’m never scared of criticism, I'm never scared of adversity.

‘These moments make us stronger and what we have to do is be really intelligent to the noise we listen to and advice we take, not letting it affect us.’

MK Dons’ Bradley Johnson’s 34th-minute opener against Pompey was the visitors’ first shot on target at Fratton Park.

It’s an ongoing weakness Cowley believes is one of the key reasons behind their recent downfall.

He added: ‘Unfortunately, I think 11 times this season we’ve conceded a goal to the opponents’ first or second chance in the game and we know that games change a lot after the first goal.

‘Particularly for us at home at Fratton, because the feeling in the stadium changes after that goal and it’s up to us to not concede that. We are working so hard to eradicate that.’