OWEN Coyle believes Burnley have created a rod for their own back after missed chances and sloppy goals contributed to an extended wait for their first away win.

Coyle slammed the 'schoolboy defending' which sealed a seventh defeat on their travels at the hands of bottom club Portsmouth.

Hermann Hreidarsson and Aruna Dindane were both unmarked when they scored in the last 25 minutes, and the scoreline could have been greater had Brian Jensen not saved Dindane's controversial first-half penalty.

But the Clarets boss was also ruing the numerous opportunities which were squandered throughout the game.

"Normally with performances results come with it, but we've dominated the game and ultimately we've lost,” said Coyle.

“We've given Portsmouth a lift. It's disappointing because we were good enough on the day to win the match, and we haven't.

“We carved them open numerous times through good football, but like anything else, at this level, you have to be clinical because they certainly were.

“They were two great finishes. I'll take nothing away from the quality but we can certainly do better in some instances in the match.

“The second goal I wouldn't expect to lose in the playground at school.

“There was a little bit of a mix-up with the free kick being taken short, and then there was a great delivery into the box because there was no pressure on the ball.

“But I would expect Dindane, who finished it well, to be picked up and he wasn't and certainly that's not good enough in there.”

It looked set to be the Clarets' day when Jensen kept out Dindane's hotly contested penalty, and then the follow-up.

But when Hreidarsson drew first blood in the 65th minute, it was back to the drawing board for Burnley.

And although referee Phil Dowd was criticised for pointing to the spot when Hreidarsson went down in the box under no contact from nearest challenger Wade Elliott, Coyle stressed he would not be apportioning blame for this latest defeat on anyone but themselves.

“I was slightly surprised (at the penalty award), although I was a distance away,” he said. “Having said that it had no affect on the game. Brian saved the penalty and we moved on.

“I'm loathe to criticise officials because if it was a mistake then it was a genuine mistake. That's what happens.

“It had no bearing on the game.

“And we have to remember that if we don't have referees then we don't have a match.

“There's no blame attached to officials, we were the architects of our own downfall. We were the ones that could right that wrong.

“We were good enough to win on the day, if we'd have taken our chances, but we never and we've paid a heavy price for not. It's as simple as that.

“If we'd have put ourselves in front I've got no doubts we would have gone on to win the game.

“I can't recall too many times they got behind us and cut us open, but they're the margins in this league. You know if you're not going to finish them at one end and, as we have done on the road, concede soft goals at the other, then you're going to be punished.”

Coyle added: “Again there are a lot of positives. Equally, we have to address the fact it's another game away from home that we've lost. That just adds fuel to the fire, and rightly so because you're in the best league in the world, the coverage is everywhere, and we've made a rod for our own back with that.

“But the only way to sort it out is through hard work and keep giving the level of performance that we're giving but, when those chances come, be clinical and take them. If we do that will serve us well.”