Why Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley doesn't believe Blues have put Ipswich defeat behind them despite positive results against Accrington and Bolton

The Blues have secured four points from their two games since the 4-0 loss to the Tractor Boys.

But Cowley believes his players are still in the process of righting the wrongs from that woeful night at Fratton Park.

The former Lincoln manager demanded a response from his players in the subsequent matches against Accrington and Bolton.

A 2-2 draw at the Wham Stadium was followed by a professional 1-0 victory against the Trotters as the team gave their manager the reaction he sought.

The latter was Pompey’s first clean sheet since August 21.

But despite the victory three days ago, the Blues chief thought his team performed better in Lancashire.

And he stressed there remained plenty of work to be done, with Cheltenham next up tonight at Fratton Park.

Cowley said: ‘I think we’re still in the process of putting the wrongs right from the Ipswich defeat, but we’ve certainly been pleased with the last two results.

‘Arguably, we played better in the Accrington game than we did on Saturday, certainly offensively, although against Bolton I thought it was the best that we’d been defensively in a number of games.

‘It’s always good to win and keep a clean sheet.

‘We’d worked hard all week on the defensive aspect of the game and I felt that all the fundamentals and principles of defending were there to see on Saturday.

‘It just shows that if you work hard in that area and put real energy and focus into it, then football games are much easier to win if you don’t concede.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can support our local team of expert Pompey writers by subscribing here for all the latest news from Fratton Park for 14p a day.