Danny Cowley knows Pompey must stop conceding sloppy goals and giving away possession too easily if they're to record a fourth straight win when Fleetwood visit Fratton Park on Saturday.

Those were two areas he identified as making it harder than it needed to be for the team to win against Shrewsbury's 10 men on Tuesday night.

While Cowley was delighted to see Pompey build on home wins over Burton and Doncaster with the victory, he was frustrated with some of their play. And he knows the mistakes are the sort Fleetwood will punish on Saturday if given the chance.

He told the club website: 'It was an important result and when you win three games on the spin, you should be happy and smiling. We had a good start to the game and created a great chance that we couldn’t take, then conceded such a sloppy goal.

'That can knock you, but credit to the boys because we showed character and a positive response to get the equaliser. Aiden’s scored again and the sending off soon followed. We knew what we wanted to do tactically, but some of our decision making was erratic.

'As a consequence, we couldn’t always find the rhythm and flow we were looking for in the second half. Steve Cotterill’s a very experience and pragmatic manager and with 10 men, they’re still a hard team to play against.

“But we need to control our emotions a bit better and there were a few players who gave the ball away too easily. We’re pleased to win, even if we could have made it a lot easier for ourselves. We kept going and kept believing, though.'

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