Kenny Jackett is looking for his Pompey players to sharpen up quickly as the friendlies go by and the league season comes into view.

He was happy to win 2-1 at Havant on Saturday but felt the performance left a little to be desired.

After Gareth Evans and Brett Pitman struck to give the Blues a narrow win over their non-league neighbours, Jackett told the website: 'It's always a good thing to win, but I don't think we flowed enough and I was expecting us to step it up at the start of the second half.

'We didn't really do that and actually fell away slightly, not able to get going in the final third of the pitch. We couldn't unlock their defence and struggled to get away from their defenders to get shots in, which was obviously frustrating.

'You can mention conditions, although I think things like that are just excuses. We've got an honest bunch and there's no lack of preparation. It's early days and people are still finding their feet. I understand that, but we do need to raise the bar and produce better performances.'

Jackett also explained the absence of Jamal Lowe, who appears to be closer than ever to a move to a Championship club - possibly Wigan. Lowe was named on the original teamsheet but was then replaced late on by Evans.

Jackett told the website: 'I gave Jamal and Ross McCrorie the weekend off after the busy week that we had in Ireland. There have been no further bids for Jamal, but with so much talk and speculation, I felt that was the right thing to do.

'It was a decision that was made the previous day and unfortunately we made a mistake when giving the teamsheet to the home club.'

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