Kenny Jackett: A feisty encounter with Fleetwood - and Portsmouth struggled to find their flow

The Blues were held to a goalless draw at Fratton Park in an encounter which yielded seven yellow cards in the first half alone.

Nonetheless, the point was enough to lift Jackett’s men into second place in League One – after an absence of 22 months.

Yet there was an air of frustration at Fratton Park at the outcome, particularly in the direction of referee Alan Young.

And Jackett reflected on a tough fixture with Joey Barton’s side.

He told The News: ‘It was hard-fought, I thought for the majority of the game we were on top but just couldn’t find that final pass or decision-making in the final third.

‘Getting out into wide areas in one-v-one situations wasn’t quite there and it was quite a frustrating night from the side.

‘Fair play to Fleetwood, they are a good side as well, they will be up there and it was a hard-fought game with a lot of free-kicks and a high number of bookings.

‘It did somewhat stop the flow, but it is up to us then to come up with something which does break the opposition down.

‘It was a feisty, competitive match and we were looking to get our game going, to get some flow and be good going forward in terms of being cohesive. Some of our decision making when we did get into those spots wasn’t quite there.

‘That resulted in us being on top for the majority of the game, without really being about to carve them open.

‘It’s up to us to play to our potential and I don't think we got the ball wide enough. It was just that final decision, that final pass to give the player the ball at the right time.’

For Pompey, it was a fourth consecutive clean sheet.

Yet it was at the other end where their boss felt League One’s leading scorers couldn’t make an impact.

Jackett added: ‘Minimal amount of chances at both ends, we had two good ones in the first half and they had one.

‘In the second half, for us John Marquis and Michael Jacobs, while Marcus Harness was unlucky and hit the side netting.

‘They were our big chances and unfortunately we couldn’t make one of them pay.’