Portsmouth boss John Mousinho admitted the Sky Bet League One leaders were below their best after being held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by lowly Fleetwood.
Colby Bishop’s penalty goal on his return from injury was not enough to earn Pompey all three points.
A visibly unhappy Mousinho said: “It was totally frustrating today.
“I thought we controlled the game in the first half and just about deserved to go in a goal up.
“We again didn’t have the quality in the final third to put the ball in the net and in the first 20 minutes of the second half we were awful.
“We were on the back foot, the passing was poor, the crossing was abysmal, and we got punished for it.
“We picked up a bit after the equalizer but looked vulnerable when they counter-attacked.
“It’s difficult to put a finger on anything in particular about what was wrong today. Although not an acceptable defence, it was like we were not playing a ‘Bolton’, and just took our foot off the pedal and switched off.
“We’re all better than that, and the players can perform a lot better. We now need to step up a gear on Boxing Day at Bristol Rovers.”
There was very little for the fans to cheer about in the opening 45 minutes, but it was in added time that Pompey took the lead.
They were lethargic from the start with very little imagination against a defensively minded Fleetwood.
Half chances from Abu Kamara, who hit a post in the 40th minute, were the best they could produce.
Then a handball in the box gave Bishop the chance to increase his goal tally for the season to 12, which he did comfortably.
Fleetwood came out with more urgency and unexpectedly equalised in the 61st minute.
A corner caused a scramble in Pompey’s six-yard box, and Josh Earl stabbed the ball home.
Chance after chance went begging for Pompey, but they just could not find the winner.
Fleetwood manager Lee Johnson said: “It was a really charismatic performance from the team. They followed the game plan to perfection really.
“We know how good Pompey are, but we have a lot of strength and athleticism, and put a real shift in.
“We felt there were a lot of poor refereeing decisions out there today.
“It was disappointing to go a goal down right on half-time, but everyone rallied round in the dressing room, and we responded well.
“We’ve got 13 players out, and the academy made eight players available for the squad, so it shows we have depth at the club and can compete on any given day.
“It was good to stem the flow of results we’ve had recently, especially against a team riding the wave at the top, and we could have gone on to win it near the end if we had made the right decision on the ball.”
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