'This is a really, really good team': Michael Morrison's belief that Portsmouth possess playing talent to turn season around after latest Bolton loss

But the veteran defender admits they need to look at themselves for the awful League One slump which has left the Blues seven points above the relegation zone.

A dreadful 3-0 defeat at Bolton stretches Pompey’s wretched run to one win in 15 league matches, leaving them in 15th spot.

Simon Bassey took caretaker charge for a third time while Andy Cullen and Rich Hughes continue the hunt for a new head coach.

Yet despite the temporary change, it has failed to galvanise a group of players who actually led the table at the start of September.

He told The News: ‘I don’t think there’s one main thing that’s going wrong, there’s lots and lots of little things we can improve around the training ground and with each other. Any team can always improve.

‘Lots of little things can cause bigger problems and maybe we need to look at ourselves as players and see what we can do better.

‘We are good players and there is some real talent in the team, so it’s about working hard on the training pitch and having a plan and executing that.

‘I think there’s a bit of a confidence issue at the moment and there's going to be. If you’re not winning games and are on a bit of a slump, there’s going to be confidence issues, so hopefully we can turn that around.

‘We have the talent to finish in the top half of the table, 100 per cent.

‘You have people like Colby Bishop, who is somebody who’s going to score goals for you, that goes a long way, you have experienced players at the back that can keep clean sheets.

‘You have people in midfield who are really talented that have played at a higher level and just come back from the World Cup.

‘It’s a really, really good team, it is. We need to translate what looks good on paper onto the football pitch.

‘As players we are really frustrated, like the coaching staff and fans – and rightly so. At the moment we can’t get the right balance going forward.’

Despite Cowley being dismissed on January 2, Pompey have lost all three subsequent matches, without scoring a goal.

And Morrison feels for the former head coach, who paid the price for the unfathomable slump since the start of September.

He added: ‘Danny played a big part in me coming to the football club.

‘I thought I was signing up for an automatic push, especially at the beginning of the season, we were all really, really excited.

‘So now we’ve got to dig in, look at each other, see what we can do better on and off the pitch.

‘It’s sad to see somebody lose their job, they’ve got family, they love the game. They work incredibly hard and are good people.’