Kenny Jackett rued a lack of penetration that prevented Pompey getting back into their match at Scunthorpe after allowing the hosts to take a two-goal lead.
He felt the masses of possession they had was deemed worthless by their inability to put away any of their chances.
The 2-0 defeat at Glanford Park left the Blues 15th in the table and still without having won two games in a row this season.
Jackett made two changes to the Pompey line-up. Damien McCrory’s knee injury saw Dion Donohue start at left-back while Conor Chaplin made way for Oliver Hawkins up front.
The Iron took the lead on 12 minutes when Lee Novak converted from Jordan Clarke's ball into the box.
It was two just after the half-hour when Duane Holmes was on hand to score after a weak defensive header from Donohue fell to him.
Pompey had plenty of the play after the break but carved out precious few chances and Scunthorpe never looked in much danger of surrendering their lead.
Jackett told the club website: 'Scunthorpe got their noses in front during a key period when it was end-to-end and two mistakes from our point of view let them in. After that it was very difficult for us to break them down. They were very happy for us to have the ball, but we couldn’t penetrate.
'We couldn’t find the right ball at the right time and when we got the ball into their box, it was always a Scunthorpe head on the end of it. Hawkins had three back-post headers and he’s either got to get them back across goal or get the ball on target.
'I just felt that they did a job on us and the game petered out. They’d only conceded eight goals and it showed why. We haven’t scored enough from corners and free-kicks this season and in tight games like these, you need to take those chances. One set-piece can get you back in the game and provide some confidence, so that’s something for us to work on.'
Pompey will aim for better when Bristol Rovers visit in League One on Tuesday night.
Pompey: McGee; Thompson, Burgess, Clarke, Donohue; O’Keefe, Close; Lowe, Pitman, Kennedy (Naismith 73); Hawkins (Chaplin 68). Subs not used: Bass, Talbot, Haunstrup, May, Evans
Referee: Anthony Backhouse
Attendance: 4,685 (815 Pompey fans)
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