‘Portsmouth deserved win, they had men everywhere’: Fleetwood boss' praise for John Mousinho’s side

The former Celtic midfielder felt the Blues had the intensity his men lacked as they ran out 2-0 victors against the Cod Army.

And that was a key factor in John Mousinho’s side picking up back-to-back league wins, with the Brown's men not at the races.

He told Fletwood’s official site: 'Portsmouth deserved it to be perfectly honest, the lads didn’t turn up tonight.

‘I’m disappointed in the way they started the game, their intensity was miles better than ours, they had men all over the park and we didn’t fancy the battle.

'We’ve got a couple of lads that will stick up for themselves and want the battle but it’s League One and you’ve got to be physical, got to be strong and we had to make subs today because that was nowhere near good enough today.

'I’m disappointed because, over the last four or five games, we’ve been very good, I’ve praised the lads even though we’ve been beaten in some of the games, but you can’t praise that.’

Fleetwood couldn’t contend with Pompey’s passing and attacking intent in the first half of the game at the Highbury Stadium, before Mousinho’s side showed greater resolve after the restart.

The home side had chances just before the break and after second half got underway, but couldn’t do more to extend new keeper Matt Macey.

After losing former Pompey target Callum Morton to Salford, Brown knows attacking recruits are a priority in the January window.

He added: 'We played great against Sheff Wed, but we had the same outcome as today as we couldn’t score a goal.

‘For us, that’s why we’ve got to invest in a striker, which the club is trying to do, so we’ve got to try and look forwards and look to the midfielder and defenders to score goals as well.

'It’s all good playing nice and attractive football, but if you can’t get the ball into the back of the net, we will have to find a different way to try and win the game.

‘It’s a huge opportunity for 11 bodies, but nobody merits a starting position after today’s performance.'