'We are a good team now': Danny Cowley's Portsmouth play-off confession after Wycombe stalemate

And he dismissed suggestions the Blues have issues competing with teams above them in League One.

On Saturday, Pompey claimed a goalless draw from the visit of play-off challenging Wycombe.

Cowley’s men managed just one shot on target, making it three successive blanks.

On one hand, the 10th-placed Blues have, inside eight days, failed to net against three clubs higher in the table – Ipswich, Plymouth and Wycombe.

Yet between them, those three high fliers have also registered just one goal against Cowley’s troops during that period.

Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘We are a good team now. If we had this team from the start of the season we'd be fine, we’d be in and around it.

‘With drawing against Wycombe, it’s not those games that hurt you, it’s the matches that have happened before January where we’ve dropped points.

‘If you look at our form post-January transfer window shutting, we are a good team.

‘We didn't play well on Saturday and didn’t get to our levels, but still had enough control in the game.

‘We have scored against the teams above, we got three against Oxford and four against Sunderland.

‘Against Ipswich and Wycombe, they haven’t scored against us and we haven’t scored against them, and they were tight games.

‘At Plymouth a penalty isn’t given, for Wycombe a sending off isn’t given. The last three games have been tight, there’s not much in it.’

Pompey have occupied 10th spot since the start of October, while are eight points adrift of the play-offs.

They remain in their sights, but time is running out to close the gap.

Cowley added: ‘I want more for Pompey, but we are not in a position to be better than anyone else.

‘We are where we are.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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