ALAN Pardew was proud of the effort his players put in against Portsmouth, but admitted Saints “need to learn some lessons.”

The Saints boss was highly encouraged by much of the display his side produced against their Premier League arch rivals.

But they couldn’t take their chances or sustain their high tempo work rate and slipped to a 4-1 FA Cup defeat courtesy of three late goals.

But it was another solid step in the development of the team and after the game Pardew, left, was philosophical.

He said: “We’ve given a really good account of ourselves and in the first 60-70 minutes we kept it really tight, which you need to do against a team like that with such attacking pace and flair.

“Unfortunately when we conceded the second goal we chased it naively somewhat and ended up with a scoreline we didn’t deserve."

Full story in today's Daily Echo