Portsmouth boss makes Oxford United selection promise after Stoke City debacle
John Mousinho has vowed to rip his Pompey side after their Stoke City humbling.
The Blues boss has promised there will be changes to his starting XI this weekend, after the 6-1 annihilation at the bet365 Stadium on Wednesday night.
Mousinho made it clear there will be repercussions, as his side slumped to the club’s biggest reverse in 16 years - making it the longest winless start to a season since the war in the process.
Virtually every player with the exception of Josh Murphy came up short of the levels expected of them, with Pompey capitulating and shipping five goals in 10 abysmal minutes either side of half-time.
Will Norris finds his continuing involvement under the spotlight with the keeper clearly culpable for at least two goals, although the 31-year-old was harshly penalised for a spot-kick after the restart.
Pompey also struggled down their right flank with Stoke running riot as Harvey Blair struggled on his bow along with Zak Swanson, who has previously impressed.
There was also huge gaps in midfield, with skipper Marlon Pack acknowledging he had to look at his own role in Pompey’s downfall.
Meanwhile, the Blues were impotent as an attacking force on a sobering night which asked serious questions of their Championship prospects this term.
Mousinho took the unusual step of confirming he will make switches ahead of the game, though he indicated those changes have to be made in context of two decent performances against Sheffield United and Burnley before the mauling in the Potteries.
He said: ‘I think we have to be balanced with it.
‘I don’t think you can lose 6-1 win and not make changes going into the weekend, so we’regoing to make some.
‘We just have to take everything on balance.
If we’d had poor performances going into the game and it was another poor performance, you’d have to look at certain positions and certain individuals.
‘We’re going to do that anyway, but we played really well at the weekend going into the game.
I think we have to take everything on balance - don’t over-react but also don’t under-react. We have to get it right.’