That is perhaps not surprising, seeing as they have recently lost the services of Glen Johnson, Sylvain Distin and Sol Campbell from their back four and not suitably replaced them.

Tal Ben-Haim has joined the club but apart from a brief period under Sam Allardyce at Bolton, the Israeli has looked out of his depth at Premier League level. One can only wonder what Jose Mourinho must have been smoking when he saw fit to sign him for Chelsea.

Nadir Belhadj is playing at full-back, despite being much more comfortable in midfield and quite useful in that position as well.

The Algerian has a sweet left foot that he uses to good effect when whipping in crosses or shooting from distance. Defensively, however, his decision-making can often be suicidal.

The penalty he gave away against Aston Villa when he failed to dispossess Stilian Petrov before making a needless and clumsy challenge on the midfielder put his team on the back foot, even though they had started the game brightly. It can often be these tiny moments that define a season.

Pompey’s defensive woes might not be so calamitous if they were at least tucking chances away at the other end. Their strike force, though, does not exactly strike fear into opposition, consisting as it does of a motley crew of sub-standard finishers.

Recent recruits Danny Webber and Tommy Smith are good honest professionals but are clearly no better than Championship players. They will add tenacity to Paul Hart’s front line - but will they take that crucial chance when it comes? I’m not so sure.

Frederic Piquionne looks a world-beater one minute and a cart-horse the next and it’s no surprise that Lyon let him go out on loan after just one season at the club with the minimum of fuss.

Kanu – his sublime talent notwithstanding - is almost old enough to collect his pension while John Utaka is a forward for whom the words barn door, banjo and cow’s arse were invented.

The supporters must reflect on the departed partnership of Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe as if it were a distant dream.

Although every game is important, each match from now on becomes even more vital in their quest to pick up points as they are already four adrift of their nearest relegation rivals – Hull, Blackburn, Bolton and West Ham.

This weekend Hart’s men face Everton at home. Their opponents had a shaky start to the season but have improved quickly and once again look like the usual solid David Moyes outfit.

That said, they have yet to pick up a point on their Premier League travels, having already lost at Fulham and Burnley.

This could be an opportunity for Pompey to get off the mark but the Toffees' 4-0 win at the KC Stadium in the Carling Cup - which saw a goal-scoring return for former Portsmouth favourite Yakubu – demonstrated that the Merseysiders will be up for the fight.

After this weekend, the Fratton Park side face a sequence of key fixtures. They travel to Wolves before ‘welcoming’ Harry Redknapp and his Tottenham team to the south coast.

They follow this by playing Hull, Wigan and Blackburn in quick succession and by the end of this period we will know whether or not they have a fighting chance of survival.

New owner Sulaiman al-Fahim has already stated that there will be no activity during the January transfer window so it seems that Hart has a sizeable task on his hands. It also appears that he is feeling the pressure of the situation, as indicated by his walking out of a pre-match press conference on Thursday when quizzed about his future.

With the odds of Redknapp returning for a third stint as manger about the same as Emmanuel Adebayor re-signing for Arsenal, Hart may get longer than one might think to try to turn the team’s fortunes around.

But if the current situation continues, al-Fahim may come to the conclusion that it is simply too expensive to drop out of the lucrative top flight and wave a few quid to entice a new man to the helm.

This would be a little harsh on Hart. Although the club have hardly thrived under his leadership, the cupboard has been stripped bare. He even lost the services of their one remaining game-breaker - Niko Kranjčar - to Spurs on deadline day.

At the moment it looks very bleak for Portsmouth. But you never know, salvation may be just around the corner if they can record a few wins in the next six weeks. Football, after all, is a funny old game.

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