Portsmouth boss admits to extent of side’s problems after woeful Bolton Wanderers showing

The Blues fell to a shocking 3-0 defeat to Bolton as their campaign lurches from one low to the next.

It’s now 10 league games without a win, with the side nearer the relegation places than the play-offs.

Pompey gave away shoddy goals with poor defending and an individual error from Josh Oluwayemi at the heart of the loss.

It means two defeats to Bolton have followed a plucky Spurs showing in the FA Cup last weekend.

Interim head coach Bassey knows his team can’t make the mistakes that are proving so costly.

He said: ‘We have a habit of making it really hard for ourselves at the moment.

‘We came here on Tuesday night and gave a really poor goal away after starting okay.

‘Today I thought we started okay and we force them to hit a ball in the air, we don’t deal with it and don’t cover around and are 1-0 down.

‘There were bits and pieces, we huffed and puffed in the first half and came into a bit more.

‘We go in at half-time, I spoke to the group and then two minutes later the game is over.

‘It’s an individual error and it happens in football, but we don’t track our runner and don’t defend well enough one v one.

‘It’s 2-0 against a good team and in the position we are in it gives us a real problem.

‘We’re in a real difficult position at the moment.’

On top of the defending issues which proved so costly at Bolton, Pompey are struggling to score goals.

It’s now just three finishes in the past seven games, with threat from open play a major concern.

Bassey admitted that’s the case but sees adding defensive resolve the area which needs immediate focus.

He added: ‘We have to be built on solid foundations.

‘We haven’t been that the last two games.

‘We defended really well and their assistant manager said it was near perfect in the first half (at Spurs).

‘We’ve got a lot of work to do, both defensively in attack, because we’re not keeping clean sheets and we’re not scoring goals. It’s a bad mixture.’