'He deserves a bit of credit': Portsmouth boss defends shock Ibane Bowat selection against Birmingham
The former Fulham man had his first league appearance in 14 months for the Blues
John Mousinho praised Ibane Bowat’s long-awaited league debut despite a disastrous Pompey defeat.
The 22-year-old man was handed a starting spot at left-back for Saturday’s St Andrew’s trip, with Connor Ogilvie injured and Jacob Farrell still struggling through a groin issue.
It represented the defender’s first league outing for the Blues since joining 14 months ago from Fulham, an absence dictated by serious injury and then selection preference.
However, it was a tough baptism for Bowat, who, along with Minyeok Yang, struggled against Patrick Roberts on the left flank in a difficult match.
But Mousinho felt it was a positive for the defender, regardless of a dismal 4-0 hammering at the hands of Birmingham.
Portsmouth boss: He played pretty well
He told The News: ‘I actually thought Ibane played pretty well to be honest, he was probably one of the players who deserves a bit of credit coming off.
‘With the limitations we have at left-back at the moment, that was the choice we made.
‘Jacob Farrell is still struggling with a groin issue and, with the other options we had, we thought Ibs was the best choice - and I actually thought he performed pretty well.
‘As it was his first league start, he was essentially struggling a bit as the game wore on, so we decided to make the change (in the 53rd minute).
‘He had no tougher time than anyone else on the pitch, I don’t think you look at it and it was an Ibane Bowat issue. I thought he grew into the game well and gave us an outlet on the left-hand side.’
Triple replacement after 53 minutes
With the game at 1-0, Pompey made a triple change on 53rd minutes, while Zak Swanson replacing Bowat at left-back.
In addition, Yang and Makenzie Kirk also made way, with Colby Bishop and Josh Murphy introduced to boost their attacking threat.
As it turned out, Tomoki Iwata headed home a left-wing corner just three minutes later to make it 2-0 win, after Andre Dozzell had failed to deal with his aerial threat at the front post.
Birmingham would total three goals after the break with Bowat off the pitch, with Christoph Klarer and substitute Keshi Anderson also getting on the scoresheet in a dreadful second half.
‘We wanted to change the dynamic’
Mousinho added: ‘Getting in at half-time 1-0 was a pretty good result considering some of the chances that Birmingham had and we still had a foothold in the game.
‘We looked at it and thought if we can make the changes after 50 minutes to change the dynamic of where we are as a team, it would give us a decent chance going into the back end of the game - but it was probably a worse second half than the first half.
‘We didn’t give ourselves an opportunity to ever get in the game and the second goal we conceded, ultimately, killed us off and heads went at that point. We never had enough to get back.’