Portsmouth boss details attacking vision for midfielder as return excites fans
John Mousinho has outlined his plan to use Tom Lowery as Pompey’s attacking craftsman.
And the Pompey boss believes the returning midfielder has the quality to unlock League One defences from a role behind his strikers.
Lowery continued his return from a hamstring injury nightmare, with his first start in nearly six months at Barnsley on Tuesday night.
The summer arrival from Crewe was deployed centrally behind Colby Bishop in a 4-2-3-1 formation, after doing a similar job as a sub at Cambridge.
It’s a departure from the central midfield job Lowery did in a 4-4-2 formation under Danny Cowley.
Mousinho sees that being the area of picture where the 25-year-old can be most effective, however.
He said: ‘Tom’s one of our more creative players.
‘We saw that on Saturday against Cambridge, when he set the chance up for Owen (Dale) and got into some good areas.
‘He’s got ability, we know that. He has ability and is able to find those pockets of space.
‘He’s very good technically and his passing is excellent.
‘So the higher up the pitch we can get him the better.
‘The positive of having Tom in the side against sides who defend very well is when they press very well, we need to break those lines and find spaces and gaps. Tom can unlock those for us.’
Pompey fans have certainly been buoyed by Lowery’s reappearance for the first time since playing against medical advice in the FA Cup win over Hereford in November, with a recurrence of the hamstring issue then following in training.
The midfielder followed up 30 minutes off the bench at the Abbey Stadium with a further 58 minutes, after starting at Oakwell.
He added: ‘It’s great to see him out there on Tuesday and it was great to see him get 55 to 60 minutes.
‘That was all we were ever going to ask of him, regardless of the circumstances of the game.
‘Match fitness is something you build up, so we didn’t want him to get to a point where he was going to tire and fatigue - then pick up an injury.
‘So, yes, it was great to see him out there. Hopefully we will continue to see that for the rest of the season.
‘He’s gone from 30 minutes on Saturday to 55-60 minutes at Barnsley.
‘He’s building up his fitness and getting back involved, but it’s not just fitness but getting up to the speed of the game as well.
‘All of those things are really important.’