ALAN Curbishley was offering no excuses after his stuttering West Ham side plunged to their fifth defeat in seven matches last night.

Niko Kranjcar's 61st minute strike was enough to fire FA Cup finalists Portsmouth to a narrow 1-0 win at Upton Park.

Pompey, despite reaching Wembley with victory over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, were brighter, faster and hungrier than Curbishley's men, who produced a woefully lethargic performance - despite coming into the game having enjoyed a 10-day break from Premier League action.

"It looked as if it was going to be a tight game. Portsmouth turned up and flooded the midfield, but I can't complain because they've been playing 4-5-1 all season," said the Irons boss, whose side remain five points adrift of Manchester City in 10th, the position they have occupied since November 25.

"We obviously needed to score first and had a couple of opportunities but didn't take them.

"As the game wore on, Portsmouth got stronger and we got flatter and considering what we are trying to fight for it was extremely disappointing.

"If we had scored first it may have been different, but we didn't.

"We are very down and disppointed in there.

"We have been 10th for the last five weeks and we have not won a game. The opportunity has been there to push on but we have not taken it."

Pompey manager Harry Redknapp, who spent seven years in charge at the Boleyn Ground between 1994 and 2001, was delighted after seeing his side secure victory at Upton Park for a third straight season, closing the gap on fifth-placed Everton to four points.

"It's been a good week," said the 61-year-old. "Coming on the back of the cup semi-final you hope you'll play well and come out in the right way and they did great tonight.

"It always gives me a buzz coming back here. I've come back three years running and won three times, and that gives me an even bigger buzz."

Redknapp, whose side have now won 13 away games this season and kept 22 clean sheets in all competitions, was also pleased with Kranjcar's winner.

"Everybody has seen what the boy can do," he added.

"(Croatia manager and fellow former Hammer) Slaven Bilic gave him a fantastic recommendation so I took him and he's been great."