PORT ADELAIDE coach Matthew Lokan has lamented poor discipline and poor execution in his side’s 13-point loss to Sturt on Sunday, leaving it winless to start the SANFL season.

The Magpies led at three-quarter-time but were goalless in the last term as Sturt ran over the top to win 9.9 (63) to 7.8 (50) in warm and blustery conditions at Alberton.

Lokan said just being competitive isn’t good enough.

“Sturt was too good in the end,” he said.

“(There were) poor free kicks against us, (we had) poor execution and they were able to take their opportunities.

“We've been competitive for the first four rounds, but that doesn't cut it today, it was a game that we should have performed better, and we didn't.

“I guess the disappointing thing is some of those mistakes were from guys that are experienced players and we've got to be better than that.”

Lokan’s side looked on track for its first victory of the season when it opened up a 14-point advantage in the third quarter – a relatively large margin in a low-scoring arm wrestle of a contest.

But the Double Blues halted the Magpies’ momentum and had all the run in the final term to consign the home side to a fourth straight defeat.

Disappointed, Lokan said his side would focus on getting the basics right.

“We've just got to go back to work,” he said.

“It's not like we're getting blown away in games, we're competitive in games and it goes back to practicing those fundamentals during the week.

“We take a lot of pride in our skill development and our craft program and we're not executing to the level that we would like, so, for me, it's a pretty easy fix, we've got to get back on the tools and get better in a number of areas and hopefully that'll turn the results around in our favour.”

Down back, one of the highlights of the game was Jake Pasini’s performance.

The young tall defender had 14 touches, three marks and five tackles, not to mention two goal-saving acts in the opening half.

“I think he's been one of our better performers for most of the year,” Lokan said.

“Jake's worked really hard on his game and we probably don't realise that he's come back from shoulder surgery not all that long ago.

“Credit to Jake, he's had a really good start to this season and cops a lot of pressure playing in our backline.”

The Magpies next take on Glenelg on Sunday at the Bay.