What was so costly as Portsmouth missed chance to up pressure on Bolton Wanderers and Derby County

But the attacking talent praised the resolve of the Blues to fight back from two goals down and claim at Port Vale.

Mistakes from Connor Ogilvie and Matt Macey led to Port Vale racing into a 2-0 lead at the interval, before John Mousinho’s side rallied to earn a point.

Jacobs contributed to that with the leveller, but knows his side couldn’t afford to give the home side the kind of leg up they took advantage of.

He said: ‘It was one of those games.

‘Over the past few weeks we’ve been playing well and picking up results.

‘This was one in the first half where it wasn’t so much struggling to get going, but we made mistakes.

‘At this level you will get punished for your mistakes.

‘This was a big game after the recent performances and the points we’ve picked up.

‘So to fight back and get something from the game shows the character in the group.

‘These things happen.‘We’ve been so good and so effective over the past few weeks.

‘The results away and at home have given us some hope of getting back in the mix.

‘When they do it’s about how you react.

Jacobs acknowledged the Port Vale strike pairing of Pompey old boy Ellis Harrison and Matty Taylor gave his side problems in the first 45 minutes.

The game swung back the way of Mousinho’s side and the former Wigan man felt his team could have snared all three points, with Reeco Hackett’s deflected effort saved by Aidan Stone at the death.

He added:‘We struggled to get to grips with the front two in the first half .

‘In the second we managed to get back into it, had chances and could have gone on to win it.

‘It was about getting back to what we’ve done over the past few weeks.

‘We didn’t get to the level we could have done, but could have won it in the end.’