Whatmough tells Portsmouth to forget Gillingham setback

The Blues defender feels there's no room to linger on a first away defeat of the season, as Kenny Jackett's men fell to a 2-0 Boxing Day loss at Priestfield.

Pompey paid the price for profligacy in front of goal as they failed to convert any of their 20 shots on goal - and managed to get just five of those efforts on target.

It was an unscripted setback following the victory over promotion rivals Sunderland last weekend.

But it means the Gills have inflicted two of three defeats suffered in the league by Jackett's side this term.

Whatmough is adamant Pompey can't dwell on the loss with games coming thick and fast - and the attention must quickly turn to the long trip to Fleetwood on Saturday.

He said: '˜You can dominate the ball but you have to take chances - and that's what was missing.

'˜But what we have to do is bounce back now.

'˜It's our first loss and that's a big achievement to do that for so long away from home.

'˜We don't want this feeling too many times, though.

'˜'It's one of those games, but I doubt if it will be the last time it happens this season.

'˜We were the better team and had the chances. We just weren't clinical enough.

'˜We've got to forget what's happened and not dwell on this. The focus has to be Fleetwood now.

'˜We have to push on and get those three points Saturday.'

The Gillingham loss follows on from Steve Lovell's side picking up a 2-0 win at Fratton Park in October.

But Whatmough pointed to the fact Pompey embarked on an eight-game unbeaten run after that blow.

The 22-year-old has targeted delivering a similar return once more to maintain the upper hand in the race to reach the Championship.

And that means looking to deliver a maximum return from the trek to Fleetwood before AFC Wimbledon come to Fratton Park on New Year's Day.

Whatmough added: '˜After we lost to Gillingham last time we had an eight-game run (without defeat in the league). Why can't we do that again?

'˜That's what we're looking at now.

'˜We want to go on another run and see how many points we can get in this league.

'˜We want to get back to what we're good at - picking up clean sheets and winning games.

'˜We showed how good we are against Sunderland.

'˜Now we have to look to Fleetwood and get back to that level of performance.

'We have to be looking at six points from the next two games - and there's no reason we can't achieve that.'