Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley reveals one key area that disappointed him most during defeat to Plymouth - and what's been done to rectify it ahead of Wycombe visit

And one key area that has already been addressed centres on his side’s inability to test Pilgrims keeper Michael Cooper throughout the game.

Despite recording 14 shots at Home Park, the visitors failed to record one effort on target.

That saw Pompey register their second blank in two games, following the goalless draw against Ipswich just days early.

Such a deficiency has cost the Blues valuable points in the race for the play-offs.

However, Cowley admitted in the build up to Saturday’s huge game against Wycombe that the issue has been addressed and advice taken on board.

He said: ‘I think we are all disappointed with what happened on Tuesday night.

‘I think, for us, (the best thing we can do) is always to take learning from every moment, it’s always to be professional, take the emotion out and try to make sure we analyse the game accurately so we can take the right learning from it.

‘We were disappointed with our final action, the execution of our final action and I think we had 11 good opportunities in the game and we didn’t execute that well enough.

‘That, accompanied with the fact we lose the ball on our build and concede a goal and maybe a key refereeing decision, is the reason that we lost.

‘For us, it’s always to focus on the things we can control and our build faze and what we could’ve done better in that moment and the execution of the chances that we created.

‘It was so disappointing to lose such a tight game but, having said that, there were probably things that we did in that game that were better than what we did in our previous eight games that we were unbeaten.

‘Sometimes that’s football and it’s always for us to have a very honest and accurate analysis of the game.’

Part of that learning process includes open discussions with the players.

Cowley is a firm advocate of that process.

And while he and his backroom team will always provide feedback post-match, the players are also afforded the opportunity to have their say.

When asked whether words were exchanged at the Home Park defeat, the head coach said: ‘Of course, everyone always speaks.

‘I think we speak collectively, we always communicate with the players and we try to empower them to have their opinion.

‘For a coach we respect how they’re feeling because they’re living it and playing it and that’s sometimes different from ours watching it from a horizontal view point.

‘It’s always important that we try to align that and we have the benefit of video analysis and the video statistics that we need to really have a clear understanding of what happened in the game.

‘You work out the whys when you win and the whys when you come up short and by doing that you take good learning and you move forward.’