‘Drifting away’: Portsmouth boss lays it on line to players as Bolton Wanderers, Derby County and Peterborough United turn up heat after Exeter City struggles

John Mousinho warned Pompey they need to quickly address their performances to stop their season ebbing away.

And the Blues boss expressed regret at not turning the screw on their rivals and letting them eat into their League One advantage over Christmas.

But Mousinho is adamant his team are still in an outstanding position, as they top the League One table entering 2024.

Misfiring Pompey ended the season frustratingly with a 0-0 draw at Exeter, to make it two points from nine over the festive period.

That has seen a seven-point lead become two points, with second-placed Bolton having a game in hand om Mousinho’s men.

The head coach knows there are issues which need sorting to turn around the three-game league run without success.

He said: ‘The results you can live with, but it’s the performances we need to address.

‘I can live with what happened at Bristol Rovers, because I thought we deserved to win. The Fleetwood first half and this game are opportunities drifting away from us.

‘We’ve put ourselves in a fantastic position after these first 24 games - we have 50 points. ‘We’re top of the league but there is a tinge of regret over the past three games that we haven’t properly turned the screw and extended the lead.

‘I’m not asking the lads to do more than is fair or not what they can produce. I’m not asking them to produce anything we don’t expect of them, or the fans shouldn’t expect of them or us as a football club. We’re not asking them to blow every team away 4-0 or 5-0. We just want them to do the basics right and not squander these opportunities like we did in the first half.

‘It’s not rocket science. We just need them to be on top of themselves and give the best chance to achieve something this year.’

Mousinho is clear it’s not all elements of the past three games which have disappointed him, but sections of those fixtures - particularly the first halves against Fleetwood and Exeter. He felt Pompey were a long way from the team they’ve shown themselves to be this season on both occasions.

Mousinho added: ‘I can always forgive a draw if we showed enough energy and purpose - but I don’t think we really did that. We wasted 45 minutes against a side who’d had a boost from their last win and made it a tough place to come.

‘I thought we started the game okay for 15 minutes, but after that were really poor in the first half. It was strange. Usually if we don’t start a game well we need to reset at half-time, but we did start okay but no I didn’t see a team I properly recognised in the first half.

‘In the second we were much more dominant, bright and energetic - but the quality wasn’t there enough. I thought we created chances, enough to win probably, but we want to create more and be more clinical when we create them.

‘The bigger frustration was we wasted 45 minutes of that game.  You can’t always rely on a brilliant second half or subs changing the game. It doesn’t always work out like that.’