'I'm not afraid': Portsmouth boss defends widespread team changes for Sheffield Wednesday stalemate
John Mousinho defended his Pompey changes - and insisted a Hillsborough point is more evidence of their progression.
For Saturday’s trip to Sheffield Wednesday, the Blues boss made five changes to the team which had cliched Championship promotion five days earlier.
Surprisingly, goalkeeper Ben Killip was handed a debut, while Harvey Blair was given only a second start, with Matt Ritchie, Nicolas Schmid and Regan Poole dropped to the bench.
In the past, such rotation would have heralded a thumping away defeat, as previously witnessed at Bristol City, Wycombe and West Brom since December.
Yet a subsequent 1-1 draw with the Owls was testament to how far Mousinho’s side have evolved.
He told The News: ‘Despite staying up, we kept to the schedule we had planned this week. We wanted to prepare properly, which we did on Friday.
‘It wasn’t wholesale changes. I know there were five of them, but a couple were enforced. And, in terms of changes, we make changes from game to game anyway. If we win, draw or lose, I’m not afraid to make changes.
‘We made the right ones to try to win the game and thankfully it panned out really well in the end. It was really, really pleasing.
‘If we had lost four or five nil, then we’d have every excuse in the book, but it’s a sign of a side which is going in the right direction and tough circumstances to come away with a point. Especially after going 1-0 down so early in a tough, hostile atmosphere.
‘Sheffield Wednesday are a good side, they will be very, very difficult to play against next year as well.
‘We never want to make those changes if we think they make us weak - and we thought we still came in with a very, very strong team. That was my message to the boys on Friday: Forget the number of changes, we have players who can come in and make a real difference.’
‘A very, very good week’
Conor Shaughnessy was handed his first start since mid-February following injury, with Terry Devlin, Andre Dozzell, Killip and Blair all coming into Pompey’s side.
Blair marked his rare start with a 23rd-minute leveller which earned the Blues a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough to keep them in 16th spot heading into the final Championship game of the season.
Mousinho said: ‘Neither side on Saturday had anything to play for, but you could see the intent still from both to try to win the game, less so from us as the game went on because we sat deep and were happy with a point.
‘The first half performance was really good from us, we had the better of the chances with the goal and Connor Ogilvie’s header - but we sat deeper in the second half and couldn't quite get up to the ball well enough.
‘Whenever we broke, we gave the ball away too easily. But, overall, we’ll take the circumstances and emotion of last week and how difficult it has been for the boys to stay in this division. It was a very, very good week for us.’
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