The Seasiders battled hard against the League One leaders following a harsh red card for Jordan Rhodes ahead of half time in the game at Bloomfield Road.
Despite being at a disadvantage, Critchley’s side put in a courageous display to keep Pompey out, with Dan Grimshaw making a number of important saves.
“The spirit, the endeavour and the humbleness of this group should never be questioned,” the Blackpool boss said.
“I’ve been in plenty of dressing rooms in my time, so you know when you’ve got one with good people. We wouldn’t be able to do what we’ve done against Portsmouth without that, and we’ve done that countless times this season- we’ve got togetherness.
“It was a well deserved point. We were excellent in the first half, and the better team- looking dangerous and having good moments. They didn’t get near our goal until we went down to 10 men, the decision to send Jordan off had a huge bearing on the type of game played after that. I’m so proud of the players, and the supporters were incredible as well, they helped us over the line massively. We showed what Blackpool is as a football club- when we feel wronged we stand up for each other.
“We knew if we stuck together and if our organisation was good then they’d find it difficult to play through us, and when they did that Grimmy (Dan Grimshaw) made some really important saves. It’s an important point, and because of the manner of it, it feels more important.”
