John Mousinho said he saw plenty to be encouraged about despite Pompey losing 1-0 at Sunderland.

It was their fourth straight away defeat but the Blues made the Black Cats work hard for the points and stayed in the game til the bitter end - despite playing the last quarter of the game with 10 men after Marlon Pack was sent off.

Pompey remain outside the bottom three ahead of their next league test - another tough away trip, this one to Blackburn, on Wednesday week.

Mousinho told the club media after the loss at the Stadium of Light: 'I’m annoyed with the nature of the goal we conceded because we gave the ball away from a throw and didn’t deal with the danger quickly enough.

'We stayed in the game, however, and frustrated our opponents for long periods – whenever they caused us problems it was down to something we’d done wrong. There were a lot of nerves from their fans and we had some chances at the end to actually nick a point.

'It was chalk and cheese from the last away performance and we saw a lot of improvement, with a few bits we still need to work on. Things didn’t quite go for us and when you come to places like Sunderland, you perhaps also need a little bit of luck.

'There were some good opportunities and there was a header from Colby at the end that has hit the defender’s arm. We were nearly there and off the back of that display, I actually feel really positive about where we are.'

One of the big pluses for Pompey was the debut display of new loanee centre-half Rob Atkinson, who came on after Pack had been red-carded.

The manager added: 'That’s his first game for 23 months and I thought he looked really good when he came on. I’ve known Rob for a few years now and he had a great season at Oxford, which actually cost me my place in the side!

'He’s a great lad and we’re getting a Championship level centre-half, who is just looking for that match fitness.'

Pompey are next in action on Friday night when they go to Wycombe in the third round of the FA Cup.

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