Omer Riza spoke to the media after the Bluebirds fell to a 2-1 loss at Fratton Park.
"We made it hard for ourselves early on." Omer began. "To go two down again is hard work. I thought after 20, 25 minutes, we were better. We created opportunities, got a goal so we stayed in the game.
"In the second half, we created opportunities and chances again that we maybe should have scored, but in general we weren't good enough. We lacked execution, we lacked bravery. We were second to a lot of stuff tonight.
"They have been really strong at home, and they're good at the things they did. We didn't stand up to the challenge. We didn't start aggressively enough, and we didn't do the basics well enough.
"I've told my players that we can do better, we can play better than that. You might have to have a fight, but once you've had a fight, you need to be able to start playing your game and applying your strengths to the game, which will cause the opposition a problem.
"When we did that, we caused them problems, but it was few and far between tonight. Like I said, to go 2-0 down, you start searching for things that are not there a little bit earlier than you want."
City now turn their attention to the Severnside derby, with Omer also giving an update on the fitness of Aaron Ramsey.
"We've got Bristol City at home now on Saturday. We need to get ready for it, we need to pick up points. That's what our focus is now. The fans have really backed us. Today it was hostile, it was hard, and it helped elevate their performance. On Saturday, we'll have a good crowd and get that backing that we normally have.
"Aaron has been out for five months, so the plan for him is not to play game after game. We have to manage him accordingly."