Andy Awford believes Pompey are giving as good as they get in their run of five straight games against sides in the top six of League Two.

Draws with Luton and Burton sandwiched a somewhat unlucky 1-0 loss at Newport County, and now Southend and Wycombe await this week and next.

Fans want to know when Pompey's next win is coming but Awford says his team are acquitting themselves. He does admit they may need to raise the game that little bit more to find their next victory.

The manager told the Pompey website as he prepared to welcome Phil Brown's Southend to Fratton: 'They’re all difficult games whether they’re at the top or the bottom of the table — there are no ‘gimmes’ in this league. But we knew that January was going to be a particularly tough month with the sides we were facing.

'The performance levels have been good, however, and if we can maintain that — or even inch them higher — then hopefully that result will come. We’ve been working hard out on the training ground and I think everyone’s seen an improvement in the last few games.

'We lacked a bit of cutting edge at Newport, but then last Saturday I thought we had that for long periods, especially in the first half. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with three sides at the top of the league, so we need to do the same this weekend.'

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