Stevenage 3 Pompey 0: Gaffer for a day

Yeah, it was really poor. It was just one of those days, really. We never seemed to get going.

Stevenage are a really good side, although I’m not too concerned at the moment.

The result may not have been what we were hoping for, but I’m not actually as gutted as you might think.

It was great to see the fans stay behind and really support the team, which hasn’t always been the case this season.

I get that it’s not always easy to get behind them when it seems like they’re wallowing and not working, but on Saturday at least they gave it a go, which the fans responded to.

How much did the change of system – 3-5-2 – employed by Paul Cook impact on the result?

Massively. We’ve been doing well playing 4-2-3-1 in recent weeks so it was a brave call to change it. But it didn’t really work, if I’m honest.

I don’t think Tom Davies fits that system as he’s not really a ball-playing centre-half, and he looked really uncomfortable at the Lamex.

The wing-backs actually looked pretty good in the shape but there was no relationship between the centre-halves and that cost us.

In midfield I thought Carl Baker really struggled to adapt and at times he looked scared to shoot.

So the losses of Kal Naismith and Kyle Bennett cost Pompey?

Of course. They’ve been huge for us in recent weeks because they’re not scared to try things and give it a real go.

We lacked a bit of creativity and imagination on Saturday and that’s where those two in particular really stand out.

Other than the goals against us, the two big moments of the game for Pompey were Conor Chaplin’s penalty miss and the red card for Christian Burgess.

What was your view of those?

For the red card, I’m not really sure what happened.

Speaking to a few people after the game it seems maybe Burgess got booked for descent because as far as I could see there wasn’t a massive amount wrong with the challenge and it wasn’t a bookable offence.

As far as the penalty is concerned, there’s not really a lot you can say about it.

Although, saying that, it was one of the worst penalties I’ve ever seen, and the keeper not diving has made Chaplin look pretty silly.

– JACK WILLIAMS