Town boss Paul Cook felt the Blues played really well for 42 minutes but that Portsmouth’s equaliser changed the momentum of the match as his return to Fratton Park ended in a 2-1 defeat.

James Norwood gave Town the lead but Pompey skipper Tom Naylor levelled three minutes before the break and Marcus Harness netted the home side’s winner in the second half.

“I felt for 42 minutes until Portsmouth equalised that we were playing really well,” Cook said. “I thought we so much better than we have offered up away from home previously, I thought we played off our front foot, I thought we created chances, I thought we looked a threat.

“And then we found ourselves at 1-1 sitting in the dressing room at half-time against a team that really hadn’t threatened anything.

“And that’s the disappointing thing, there’s so much work to do, as people know, and our supporters will be so disappointed but we’ve got to make sure now that we react to results.

“It’s my job at the minute to find out about the players and the character of the players. Like I just said to them in there, ‘We’re a club of great structure and we’ve all got to make sure, myself included, that we’re good enough to be here because if we’re not good enough to be here, the reality is someone will take our place one day’. And that includes myself and the players.”

Reflecting on the game further, he added: “We don’t score enough goals, that’s there for everyone to see. Latterly, we’ve given a couple away.

“I’m a great believer that you work harder, you trust your players, I asked them for so much in the game today and I felt for 42 minutes they gave me everything that I asked for.

“We’re away from home to a good club, a big club, we never came under any pressure. We never kicked them off the line or the goalkeeper had to make big saves.

“And we find the ability then to concede a goal from a basic corner into the box. And the lad has another free header within six yards of our goal.

“With the greatest respect to coaching and managing, it’s not really that hard to defend, is it? You’ve got to be aggressive, you’ve got to want to defend but unfortunately at the minute we’re just in that little position as a group of people that we’re always waiting for someone else to be the one to do it.

“That won’t be us going forward. We’ll make sure we have men and character in the team, something that’s just a little bit lacking at the minute.”

Cook disputed the suggestion that his players might be suffering from a lack of confidence: “Was it a week ago we beat Plymouth 1-0? Seven days? How can you lack confidence in seven days? That’s football.

“What you’ve got to have, you’ve got to have a maturity and mental strength and a mental toughness which unfortunately as a team at the minute, and I include myself in the team, I include all my staff, the players, as a group of people we don’t have that enough.

“And when we come to away grounds we’ve only got each other, we really have. And today unfortunately, when we looked to the back five, six to come and just get us into half-time winning 1-0, we can then affect the game better in the second half.

“But the reality is that the momentum of the game changed. Fair play to Danny and Nicky [Cowley, the new Pompey management team], good luck to them, it was their first game, they had a good win, but second half it just petered out into a poor League One game, which looked like it was going to be 1-1. But unfortunately for us we found a way to get beaten.”

Asked whether character will be high on his list of requirements when it comes to recruiting in the summer, Cook said: “I don’t want to get into those conversations. Like I told the players, I don’t want to be a manager who threatens players and different stuff.

“We’ve all got a real privilege at the minute. We represent our club and the reality is that we’ve got 11 games and in those 11 games we can totally turn everyone’s opinion on us right round.

“We won’t do it by speaking on radios and talk shows, we’ll do it by working on the training ground, getting a winning result in the palm of our hand and seeing the game out resolutely. At that point then we’ll be able to take steps forward.”

Was the game tougher because Pompey had just appointed new manager Danny Cowley? “I don’t know. I think we make our own problems as a team at the minute. I thought for 42 or 43 minutes we looked like by far the better team, we were comfortably in the ascendency, I don’t think that Portsmouth, and I could be wrong, had been our box. They’d offered no threat.

“Again in football goals change games and that one just before half-time really did some psychological damage to us because mentally we’re not as strong as we should be and you always feel at the minute that there might be something in us that goes the wrong way. That certainly came to the fore today again.”

Asked how that might change, he said: “It doesn’t, does it? Before the end of the season, you just keep working hard. It’s like I said to the players, you had a 42-minute performance and you had a game in the palm of your hand, and the reality is that we had the game in the palm of our hand again going forward.

“It’s hard in management because everyone listens to every interview, the Ipswich fans now, we’re in a promotion campaign that we don’t really look like we’re in at the minute but results could change that.

“The reality is that we’ve got to take the positives out of it, we’ve got to stop giving goals away and we’ve got to start going score. So the challenge is all there.”

Quizzed on whether he had any complaints about the second goal with a number of his players having indicated that they felt the ball had gone out of play in the build-up, he said: “We could find a way to get beaten, couldn’t we? It’s just football. I think one day soon we’ll be in a position where we’ll be able to talk about the game with a different outlook.

“At the minute you watch us nervously waiting for something wrong to happen and that’s got to change, hasn’t it?”

Asked what he makes of the push for the play-offs as it stands, he added: “I just keep going. I’ve said it all the time, if you want to be successful, you’ve got to win games. If you don’t win football games then you will not be successful.”

Regarding Armando Dobra making his first appearance under his management as a sub, he said: “We lack goals in the team, we have flair players at the club and within the flair players I’m trying my best to be fair as I can but without being destructive to the team.

“I genuinely myself I think the way we play it would be nice to see Jackson and Norwood together as a front two but the reality for front twos is you give up midfield and there are so many debates in football today.

“As I say, for 42, 43 minutes today we looked a good side. I enjoyed watching us play. Yet that goal just changed the total momentum and that’s something that we’ve got to seriously look at and work hard to be better at.”

He says pairing Norwood and Jackson is something he has thought about a lot: “Oh yes, without a shadow of a doubt. It’s a front two that offers you everything you want out of a front two. It’s got pace, it’s got energy, it’s got everything.

“But I’m a great believer that you defend from the front and I thought our energy levels from the front went a little today.

“I don’t want to start debating the game, I’m sure our supporters don’t want to listen to me do that. The only thing they want to listen to is that we’re not happy with it, we’re hurting bad, as you can imagine as because we still have an opportunity to get out of this league this season and if we can grasp that opportunity, then we’ll do it.”

Kane Vincent-Young’s return as a sub in the second half was a big positive for the Blues on an otherwise disappointing afternoon.

“They’re great moments, aren’t they?” Cook said. “Especially players like that. In the modern-day game you need to have ammunition all over the pitch, certainly in wide areas and penetrating areas from full-backs, and there’s none better than Kane. It’s a really big plus that he was back on the pitch today.”

Asked whether James Wilson, who made way for Vincent-Young, had picked up a knock, he said: “No, no. At the end of the day I’m not going to debate. I don’t want to debate every player and individuals because we’ve got too many.

“The reality is that when we’re not winning now, going forward it’s my job to make sure I’m looking at every option available.

“Today the disappointing thing is that we didn’t come under pressure in the game. And away from home, if you don’t come under pressure, you have to win and unfortunately we didn’t do that.”

Cook spent plenty of time talking to old colleagues from his time at Portsmouth and was disappointed that his second return ended in a defeat, as his first did with Wigan.

“Listen, I had great times at the club. It’s always disappointing, I’ve been back twice now and been beaten 2-1 twice,” he said.

“Good luck to Danny and Nicky, they’re good guys, they’re in charge of a great club, I wish them well, but today we should have taken something out of that game, we really should. Not on our second half performance but certainly on our first half and unfortunately we haven’t.”

New Pompey boss Danny Cowley was delighted with the victory having been appointed yesterday.

“It’s a great start, an important win at an important time of the season. I just want to credit the players and the football staff.

“It’s been a hugely tough week for them when you consider what they’ve been through.

“They lost after extra-time [to Salford in the Papa John's Trophy final] at Wembley [last Satuday] and then a manager [Kenny Jackett] who was highly thought of in the dressing room lost his job.

“They then had to go to [Peterborough] on Tuesday, where they came up a little bit short.

“So to show the desire and intensity they showed, we weren’t free-flowing, but we showed an incredible amount of determination and resilience.”

Photo: TWTD

TB42 added 08:25 - Mar 21 More wise words from Paul COOK and another honest assessment of where we are and where we need to be. Clearly, the fundamental cultural change I have alluded to previously is needed and again, that means moving on from CHAMBERS and SKUSE. Most people on here appear to acknowledge that but a few equally do not, marking down every criticism of CHAMBERS. Please, what are you seeing that the rest of us are apparently missing ?!?!

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thechangingman added 09:19 - Mar 21 It's refreshing that we now have a realistic, articulate and honest manager (although obviously he hasn't played for Dortmund!). However, I winced when he said, “At the minute you watch us nervously waiting for something wrong to happen and that's got to change, hasn't it?” My wince was with 'at the minute'. Surely I am not the only fan who's felt like this ever since Marcus Evans arrived? Until he leaves, we're merely shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic...

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Pezzer added 09:47 - Mar 21 Let's hope the club gets sold to a suitable new owner and some proper investment is available to Cook, but in the meantime I believe we need to be getting much more out of the first team squad, and rather than trying to play 1 up and trying to squeeze players into a particular formation every week, lets look at the formation to suit the players. Cook talks about 'partnerships on the pitch' , 'responsibilties' and 'scoring more goals'. We also need to play our best academy players and give them pitch time to establish these partnerships, gain experience and improve to fulfil their potential rather than sticking with the players at the end of their careers and who have no potential to improve. Chambers needs to go. Skuse needs to go. If McGuiness is available why not try and get a partnership with Woolfenden, or Wilson and Woolfenden. Vincent Young and Kenlock at full backs.Dozzell and Dobra our our own players and both are technically very good and creative, lets develop and coach them to be better and consistent. Downes is good enough when fit a lets sort out his temperament issues. If Judge is going to feature, he needs a central role- its he's best position, and Norwood and Jackson need to play as a front 2 or part of a front 3, not this one up rubbish.

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bushhillblue added 10:22 - Mar 21 Team is weak mentally and physically midfield no creative and bullied every game all of them PC has only got this shower to manage so I suggest something different put woolfy in midfield least he can tackle and stop this ridiculous system of one up front and lose 4 and 8 if I was Wilson and not injured Saturday I'd be knocking on PC door wtf you taking me off for boss

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bluelodgeblue added 10:54 - Mar 21 When I look at the squad and try and describe their performance, words literally fail me. When I use words like gutless, pathetic, spineless and woeful they just sound inadequate??
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Orraman added 11:31 - Mar 21 Cook says we are so short of goals but then says he has considered playing Norwood and Jackson as a front two as they offer everything needed from a front two but decides we are better defending from the front. Well play two up front and at the same time reinstate Kenlock who in recent games has put some wonderful balls into the box but gets thrown out of the squad after one rocky game. Seems to me all his brains are in his gob and there is no doubt there is plenty of that.

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dirtydingusmagee added 14:45 - Mar 21 players waiting for something wrong to happen ! well could start by removing Chambers ,thats one dealt with .We will offload a lot of players in summer im sure, but the hardest thing is to bring players in. Evans dosnt want to spend, and we are league 1, its not very enticing unless you are Lge 2 [or dare i say it lower] . And the longer we are flapping around in this league the less inviting it will be, we missed out on bouncing back to Championship and now we are just another ''average League team '' . Good luck PC.

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josimar added 15:28 - Mar 21 Does anyone know the most number of players brought into the club before a new season has started? That number will definitely need to be beaten as the majority of the present squad aren't fir to wear the shirt
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surgery added 17:09 - Mar 21 I'm sure we could dispense with the services of a manager and just let this load of rabble draw straws before the game to decide on the starting eleven and who will play where. It couldn't be any worse could it. Messrs 4 and 8 will not be provided with a straw for obvious reasons
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Skip73 added 18:59 - Mar 21 They cant shoot, can't pass and can't defend. Apart from that they are ok. Ship the lot of them out, apart from Norwood and KVY.
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Barty added 08:08 - Mar 22 I think PC could get us out of League 1 with £30million to spend on 15 new players. Otherwise no chance
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runningout added 13:06 - Mar 22 Sounds like PC watches my team like I do. He knows it's going to be a task and a half! Forget promotion this year
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Skip73 added 13:13 - Mar 22 Josimar, it was probably the 9 useless players Messiah Hurst brought in.
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