'Work to do before facing Tigers'

And the winner for the biggest anti-climax goes to…..

It was the most hotly-anticipated south coast derby for 14 years, the last time the fierce rivals met. This one, however, failed to deliver on the hype and they played out a drab and disappointing 0-0 draw.

The first half saw Saints register just one shot on target, which led Will Still to admit: "We wasted everyone's time".

Portsmouth, arguably, were the better side and managed seven shots. The closest, when Andre Dozzell smashed Gavin Bazunu's bar from just outside the box.

Saints picked up their efforts slightly in the second half. Cameron Archer finally got the home fans off their seats when he rounded the keeper, but left himself too much to do and was easily hooked away with no red shirts coming to his aid.

The game had a combined 20 shots on goal with both managing just one on target each. Fans will have to wait for the return fixture at Fratton Park at the end of January to claim those bragging rights on the south coast.

If we try to focus on the positives, Still switched his formation to a flat back four, something the fans had been calling for after new additions were made in the summer window.

Debutant Tom Fellows started and we saw two further debuts from Caspar Jander and Leo Scienza from the bench. No complaints over Still's selections.

Defensively, we looked solid. Jack Stephens and Taylor Harwood-Bellis kept Colby Bishop and Conor Chaplin quiet and limited their chances.

Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good - a lack of intensity and creativity moving forward and movement on the ball was wasteful. Plenty of work is needed in preparation for Hull this weekend.

The new signings still need time to gel and with no international distractions for a full week of training, hopefully Still will keep things the same in terms of formation and personnel. No fresh injury concerns for the trip to Hull City. Hopefully something sticks.

You can hear more from Ray on the In That Number podcast.