Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton spoke to BBC Radio Solent after his side's 4-2 League One defeat against Carlisle at Brunton Park, Appleton saying his players didn't start well in either half:
“We didn’t start the game well enough and didn’t get much better leading up to half-time. We started the second-half in the same vein I suppose after saying all the right things at half-time, then just too little, too late. All four goals were more than preventable, a little bit of kamikaze I would suggest by a lot of our players today in the way we went about it, so a lot of work to do before next week.
“I think you learn more from your defeats than you do your good performances and picking up results. I think personally I learnt a lot about a lot of the players today, which was good because there are certain situations which you have to handle better than we did, and certain players need to handle them better than they did today. At times yeah we played some good stuff and towards the end of the game we were a little bit free-flowing and having a go at it, but you have got to earn the right to play and we never earnt the right to play today.
“The goal at the start of the second-half was a killer blow, I was more angry at how we conceded it, the build-up to it and the fact that it was a free header. We know who we should be picking up and obviously they were told in no uncertain terms after the game. But, if you are going to concede those types of goals then you are going to make it very, very difficult for yourself and give yourselves a mountain to climb.
“That is pretty much what it was and I said to them at the end that we don’t have to go gung-ho, that is the thing with this team, we don’t have to, if we do go behind it is a disappointment but you have got to get the disappointment out of your system quickly because we will create a lot of chances, as we have done again today and we will score goals. So, we have to be a little bit more professional than I suppose we were."
“The sending off was harsh to say the least, I mean there wasn’t really a tackle in the game and I think there were six bookings and a sending off. I think the referee (Eddie Ilderton) had a below average one, but at the end of the day it wasn’t his fault we lost the game. We lost the game because we never started right at the start of the game and just after half-time.
“We are going to have to bring in a defender now because we haven’t got one. I have said this before and that is why I wasn’t getting too excited after the first two games, we are down to the bare bones and we were then. We have got Lee Williamson and Kieran Djalili injured, we have got Kevin (Long) who is going to be missing through his red card, who knows what is going to happen during the week. So, if we are able to bring somebody in then obviously that has got to the absolute priority now.
“It is going to happen a lot this year, hopefully today was probably a realisation for everyone to bring everyone back down to earth. It is going to be a tough season, it is going to be a long season, we are going to need a lot of support and continued support from the brilliant fans that have come here again today, and hopefully we will have more good days than bad days, but this is a bad day for us.
“I can stand here and make excuses for the players in terms of the coach journeys that we have had to endure this week, but you are going to have to do it anyway. But, I think that was probably the most disappointing thing, I just didn’t think we worked hard enough today to win a game of football. For me it is a given, you work your socks off and whether you are good enough technically or tactically to win a game that is a different issue, but first and foremost you work your socks off and you see where you go from there.”