PORTSMOUTH 2 BURNLEY 0

BURNLEY manager Stan Ternent admitted it was the 'same speech from the same song sheet' after another bout of travel sickness.

There was no music to the Clarets chief's ears at Fratton Park as Burnley still have to scroll back to October 21 for the last win on their travels.

Instead it was Pompey's Luke Nightingale who was singing a sweeter tune.

The 20-year-old scored his first goal of the season to set Portsmouth on their way to a harmonious first game in charge for new boss Graham Rix.

"There is no excuse, we didn't play well and we got what we deserved.

"It is the same speech from the same songsheet so we have got to do better," said a frustrated Ternent.

It was a lacklustre performance from Burnley and there seemed to be no answers.

The Clarets lined up with the same starting eleven that defeated Huddersfield just seven days before with defender Ian Cox, back from Trinidad and Tobago duty, and Lee Briscoe, making a welcome return from injury, both starting on the bench.

The one noticeable omission from the substitutes was 14-goal striker Andy Payton who was 'not selected' by Ternent and midfielder Micky Mellon and Lennie Johnrose also missed out altogether.

With two wins behind them, several Clarets players had said that was the turning point after a poor run of eight defeats in ten league games.

But every player in claret and blue seemed to have an 'off day' at Fratton Park as they couldn't find a cure for their away day blues.

"It seemed a low tempo game for some reason, it seemed like an end of season match, and I don't really know why that should be," said Ternent, who tried his best to get his players going from the sidelines.

While the Burnley boss was searching for some answers, the Pompey fans will demand more of the same from Rix as Portsmouth moved further away from the drop zone.

The atmosphere at Fratton Park was expectant with his arrival and the question mark over whether fans' favourite Steve Claridge, who was caretaker boss until former Chelsea coach Rix was appointed, would play was soon answered.

The 34-year-old, said to be a target of the Clarets, was ruled out with an ankle injury.

Even so there was no shortage of strikers for Portsmouth who started with three up front, Steve Lovell, recalled into the line-up for Rix, proving to be a handful for the Burnley defence.

At the other end, the Clarets could not cause Pompey the same problems.

Loan striker Gareth Taylor was brought in to get his head to the ball and hold it up but when faced with 6ft 3in and 16 stone Darren 'Bruno' Moore in the centre of the Pompey defence, he got little change.

Namesake Ian Moore, after impressing in Burnley's last two wins, struggled to get involved in the game and never had a sniff of goal.

In fact Burnley had only two real chances in the whole game, both restricted to long range.

Taylor's 25 yard strike was wide in the first half and a similar Glen Little effort after the interval was straight at the keeper.

It was a poor tally considering Portsmouth chalked up 17 efforts on goal.

Quite a few of them were long range efforts which Nik Michopoulos easily dealt with but two -- and almost a third -- killed off the Clarets.

The first goal was always going to be vital after a scrappy first half.

A renewed spirit was expected in the second half after the interval team talk but Burnley still struggled to get a grip on the game while Pompey -- backed by the home crowd -- visibly grew in confidence.

A break down the right settled it.

Former Manchester United ace Lee Sharpe, on loan until the end of the season from Bradford, sent Jason Crowe galloping down the wing.

He crossed it, the Burnley players were dragged to the near post, and no one was marking Nightingale who almost tried to be too clever with a chip.

Luckily for him, with the goal beckoning, the ball soared into the top corner of the net.

Burnley had a few half-hearted efforts but nothing too serious and the game then hinged on a questionable penalty.

"It seemed a bit of a dubious one as he was coming the other way but that is the way it goes sometimes," said Ternent.

Lovell launched into another run into the area and skipper Steve Davis blocked his path.

The striker had lost the ball but turned around, bumped straight into Gordon Armstrong and that was it, spot kick.

In a real mouthful, Australian-Greek Mike Panopoulos faced Nik Michopoulos and in went the penalty -- game over.

And it could have been worse for the visitors when Sharpe crashed a 20 yard effort against the upright.

Ternent tried to change things round and threw on three substitutes with a welcome return for Briscoe.

The left back, sidelined since November with a gashed shin and then a hamstring injury, looked lively after coming on on the hour -- just after the opening goal -- but once the second went in that was that.

Second substitute John Mullin tried to pump things up up front and defender Cox made a late show, following his return from international duty on Friday.

The Burnley backline, who survived without Cox in the Terriers win, noticeably missed his presence for this game.

Losing the three points were bad enough for Burnley but then winger Little went in for a challenge on substitute Kevin Harper and was carried from the pitch with an ankle injury.

This reduced the Clarets to ten men for the final few minutes and puts a question mark over the winger's availability for the next few matches.

Singing was out of the question on the long trip home.