Pompey captain Tom Naylor says the players must keep their heads up despite ending up well beaten at Brighton in the Carabao Cup.

The 4-0 loss was tough on Kenny Jackett's men and they have to raise themselves quickly - with a trip to Rochdale ahead of them on Sunday.

Naylor told www.portsmouthfc.co.uk: 'Their strengths are always going to be massive — no matter what squad they put out. But I don’t think the scoreline reflected the way we played and we actually did quite well in the first half.

'We passed the ball around nicely for a lot of the game and it was just a case of a few errors costing us. Once Brighton got their second goal after the break, their tails were up and we did switch off at times.

'We knew it was going to be a possession game for them and that was something we discussed beforehand. They are a Premier League side and are going to be stronger side than us, which showed in the second half.

'But they didn’t play through us at all before the break and there are things we can definitely take heart from. We’re disappointed to lose, but have to keep our heads up and be ready to go again at Rochdale on Sunday.'

Pompey: MacGillivray; Bolton, Whatmough (Downing 71), Raggett, Pring; Naylor, Morris; Williams, Harness, Curtis (Cannon 63); Marquis (Harrison 63). Subs not used: Turnbull, Brown, Close, Evans

Referee: Matthew Donohue

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