Portsmouth boss’ no-nonsense response to side’s drop in form - and detailed views on how to put things right

The Blues boss believes criticism of his side’s performance in defeat at Wycombe was entirely justified.

But he underlined the loss which makes it one league in 10 with six draws along the way, is a long way from being a dagger blow to hopes of success this term.

And in a fired-up address, he stressed the way for himself and his team to make things right is by delivering on the pitch.

Cowley said: ‘Any criticism of us last weekend is justified. That’s the truth.

‘We didn’t get to our levels. We didn’t play the way we wanted and didn’t deal with their physicality.

‘We actually played better in the second half, but didn’t create as much as we’d like.

‘We have to take responsibility for that, but it’s always all of us. It’s never to blame one or two.

‘All of us went home disappointed.

‘But we’ve had the chance to reflect and learn - and losing is not fatal.

‘What will define us is our response.

‘We have to respond in a really positive way.

‘I’ll always try to speak openly and honestly.

‘But I’ll always have the inclination to protect the players, because that’s my feeling especially when you feel they’re getting criticised.

‘The truth is we have some games in hand, if we win those games in hand we’ll be in the play-offs.

‘We were all hurt by the last performance and the criticism.

‘We’re proud of this club and we feel disappointed when we let supporters down.

‘But I’m not one to apologise for performances, I think it’s weak. The only way to apologise is by playing better and winning the next game. I’d much rather our response be that.’

Cowley has broken down what he views as the reasons for his team not being able to maintain the start to the season, which saw them set a powerful early pace.

The 43-year-old stressed he has confidence in the character of his players to get things right moving forward.

He added: ‘In that first block of 10 games we won a lot of tight games and kept a good number of clean sheets.

‘We had some games when we got on top and could be creative, and there were some solid away performances and were disciplined to get the best outcomes.

‘In the next block we’ve drawn games we should’ve won and conceded the first goal in games, when it’s been the first time they’ve come in our area.

‘Goals may come from individual errors, but when managers talk about that I feel they are passing the buck.

‘Sometimes there are anomalies. The goals aren’t all from set-pieces or all from losing the ball on the build or being open on the counter.

‘At home we’ve found it hard to break down a team in a deep block. We won’t be the only team to have that.

‘We’ll keep working and they are a hard working group. I’ve got a lot of trust in them as people.’