ARJAN De Zeeuw will not be rushing back to St Mary's.

Pompey defender De Zeeuw was sent off at the end of Saints' 2-0 Carling Cup win last season, and thereby missed the 3-0 Premiership loss at the same ground just before Christmas.

A year on and this time he was at fault for Kevin Phillips' winning goal.

De Zeeuw had been marking James Beattie but failed to mark his replacement - and Phillips was left with a free header with which to net the winning goal.

Pompey boss Harry Redknapp said: "If we had marked Phillips, they wouldn't have scored and we'd have drawn.

"It was poor defending. Arjan De Zeeuw is my best header of a ball and is a magnificent character, he's been unbelievable for me but his mistake cost us a point.

"I was stood on the touchline when Phillips came on and was telling 'Arry that he (Phillips) is good in the air.

"He knew of the danger but for some reason he was caught on his heels and lost him at the corner.

"He held his hand up after the game but it cost us dearly."

Redknapp added: "Once we got in the lead I thought their confidence was going to drain out of them quickly and we just needed to hang on to the lead for a little while.

"But even at 1-1, Shaka's had very little to do, I don't remember him diving around the goal making many saves.

"It was an even game and I could see a draw coming but we simply got done on a set piece, that was the difference."

POMPEY midfielder Gary O'Neil blamed slack defending for his side's derby defeat.

Saints' first came after a Rory Delap long-throw and the second from a Jason Dodd free-kick.

"We were disappointed, we thought we had done enough to deserve a result," said O'Neil.

"At 1-1, I thought we would win, it was going well. To give away goals from set-pieces was disappointing.

"There was some slack marking, but you can't just blame the defence. We all have a job to do and they didn't have to work hard enough for their goals.

"We didn't create many chances.

"After going 1-0 up they might have got edgy but we let them in too early. We are disappointed for the fans, but we will bounce back."