Accrington boss John Coleman bemoaned his side’s lack of a killer touch after they went down 1-0 at Portsmouth.
Substitute Joe Pigott was the home hero with a header 15 minutes from time.
Coleman said: “We did enough to win the game, but just cannot get a goal. We took the game to them from the off and dominated the first half.
“If you look at the stats, we’ve had six shots on target to their two. The stats don’t lie.
“You rarely come here and have more shots than the home side. The ability to gift goals to sides has plagued us all season, and we keep beating ourselves.
“The goal was a calamity from my point of view, and we can’t blame anyone but ourselves.
“The only saving grace is that apart from Morecambe, the results have helped.
“I cannot fault the players for their effort, they have run themselves into the ground. Michael Nottingham was struggling for 20 minutes but carried on.”
Pompey’s John Mousinho came away the happier manager and he said: “I was pleased with the way the lads stuck at it. Performance-wise, we know we can do better, especially in the final third in creating more opportunities.
“We had to be patient. We cannot blow teams away three or four nil week in, week out.
“You have to show respect for the opposition. They had a game plan. They have some solid experienced players at this level, and teams scrapping at the bottom are harder to get past.
“The result was the most important thing, although we are working hard on the areas we are struggling with. These things take time. You can’t just flick a switch and it’s done.
“I was pleased with Harry Jewitt-White’s performance on his debut. He injected energy and aggression and did very very well.”
