Mark Hughes has demanded more from his Manchester City players after they slumped to a dispiriting 2-0 defeat at the hands of managerless Portsmouth.
City were virtual spectators as a Pompey side whose form has been so poor since the turn of the year it led them to sack boss Tony Adams last week, cantered to victory courtesy of goals from Glen Johnson and Hermann Hreidarsson.
"It was very disappointing from our point of view," confessed Welshman Hughes. "The Premier League is the hardest league in the world and if you don't hit a certain level you will get beaten."
He added: "That's what happened. We had a lot of possession and a lot of territory but without really creating creating anything worthwhile.
"We had one chance right at the end with Ched (Evans) when we realised we had to hit some more angled balls into the box to create something. Up to that that point we never looked like making something happen or creating anything.
"It's a disappointment because we expected more."
Hughes was already without the leadership of centre-half Richard Dunne before Micah Richards failed a late fitness test on his ankle.
Homegrown defender Shaleum Logan was drafted in for his first taste of Premier League football at right-back but, despite being pleased by his efforts, Hughes felt his defence missed the absent duo.
"We had a young back four obviously and we had players that weren't able to hit any kind of level," Hughes said.
"Logan came in and under the circumstances acquitted himself quite well. We'll take that as a positive because there weren't many to take being perfectly honest."
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