Honest view from Portsmouth dressing room after ‘avoidable’ Bristol City defeat
Pompey fell to a 2-1 defeat to Bristol City on Saturday afternoon.
Conor Shaughnessy believes Pompey were ‘punished’ by a ‘ruthless’ Bristol City side at Ashton Gate.
And the centre-back believes both the Robins’ goals were avoidable after defensive mistakes by the Blues.
But the Irishman is adamant there are clear signs of progress having controlled large spells of the contest against the Championship big spenders.
Lorent Tolaj and Jason Knight punished Pompey, with the pair capitalise on defensive mistakes either side of half time.
There was late joy for Mousinho’s troops, with Marko Milovanovic pulling a goal back deep into stoppage time, converting from the spot to open his Fratton Park account.
And after huge defeats in their last two trips to Ashton Gate, Shaughnessy is adamant there were still plenty of positives to take from the loss
He told The News: ‘We knew it would be a tough one coming here. Last season when we came here, it was a very difficult place to go so we knew we had to be at it today.
‘I thought we were well in the game for the majority of it but the two goals were avoidable.
‘Disappointing day but it’s a quick turn around, Tuesday night comes quick so it’s one to look forward against Derby.
‘It was definitely a better performance today than last season. There are positives to take.
‘Disappointing not to win the game, not to take anything from the game especially when I feel like we were well in it for the majority.
‘We’ll review it and I’m sure there will plenty of positives to take, plenty of learning points and it’s about bouncing back.
‘This league is ruthless in terms of when we are in control we have to go ahead, take our chances and be a bit more clinical because when you give sides like this an opportunity like we did on the counter they put it away.
‘It’s definitely a learning curve but we have progressed slowly, we’re going to go forwards and backwards in that sense. But in general, if we’re moving up the right way then it’s a positive.
Pompey have spent close to £9m in the summer window so far, with the likes of Marezi, Abu Kamara and Rocco Shein all arriving in big-money deals.
The Blues have recruited 10 new players, with more expected to arrive before Tuesday’s transfer deadline.
And Shaughness admitted Mousinho’s side are ‘progressing’ with the result at Ashton Gate highlighting their improvements.
‘We’re progressing as a squad. We’ve spent two seasons in the Championship now.
‘I think the first one was surviving, the second one was trying to better that. Now, the third season in the Championship is how can we progress from that more?
‘We can see by the signings we’re making, the backing from the owners and the fees that we’re paying for players.
‘We can see there’s a progression there. And coming to places like this and competing for 90-plus minutes is showing that we are progressing.’
Your next Pompey read: Portsmouth boss delivers latest on Adrian Segečić s future amid Birmingham City interest