Buoyant Portsmouth boss pledges to stick to tactical masterplan after rotation success
Terry Devlin has started three of the Blues’ last eight matches, yet is now their top scorer
John Mousinho has vowed to continue the ‘luxury’ of rotating his full-backs after Terry Devlin’s triumphant return.
The Northern Ireland international was recalled to the Blues side for Tuesday night’s Fratton Park clash with Swansea - and promptly scored twice in a man-of-the-match display.
Devlin and Zak Swanson have been battling it out for the right-back spot this season, while Swanson’s versatility has also seen him displace Jayden Meghoma at left-back against Swansea.
In Mousinho’s mind, Pompey possess three talented players able to compete for two full-back spots in his starting XI.
And with one defeat in their last 10 matches, it’s a tactical decision he believes is paying dividends.
‘It’s less of a selection headache and more of an option’
The Blues boss told The News: ‘It’s just having that freshness in the side - and we have that luxury of doing it.
‘Swanny was very good against Burnley, he’s been very good, the three full-backs we’ve had available have been very good. Jayden probably had his best game on Tuesday night in the Pompey shirt
‘We want to keep that constant energy going with Jayden, keep him going on and on and on in terms of his running power, you can see he can do it.
‘Deciding between them is tough, Terry can consider himself unlucky. What we did the previous week when we had the three games, we went Swanson and Meghoma, then Devlin and Meghoma, then Swanson and Devlin.
‘We have the option to change one of them and, through the week, if you play two out of the three games at full-back then maybe you have a bit more energy. It’s just about seeing how players are when you have the option to do that and I thought it worked quite well against Swansea.
‘It’s less of a selection headache and more of an option. You can do that with full-backs, but there are some other positions on the pitch, like centre-half and goalkeeper, you don’t necessarily do it that much.
‘In modern football you have a bit more flexibility to do it, so even keeping a clean sheet at Burnley we can make a change.’
Started three of Portsmouth’s last eight games
After starting Pompey’s opening seven matches, Devlin has subsequently been named in Mousinho’s line-up just three times over the next eight fixtures.
While Swanson, who began the season with five consecutive outings at left-back, has now been largely preferred on the right.
As for Meghoma, since making his debut in September’s 2-0 victory over Cardiff, he has started nine of the last 10 matches.
Meanwhile, Devlin is now Pompey’s top scorer with four goals following his contribution in the 3-1 triumph over Swansea, while Swanson has two, with the full-backs also demonstrating their eyes for goal.
‘He came back a different player’
Mousinho added: ‘The first goal sums Terry up, running from deep, really well finished. The second goal was from a set-piece, we had created a lot of those opportunities which hadn’t quite gone on.
‘He is another one who has kept his head down consistently since he’s been at the football club, he’s improved and improved and improved and improved.
‘I don’t think he had the best start to the season, we spoke about that, he went away with Northern Ireland, came back a different player and is reaping the rewards now.
‘He played brilliantly against Wolves, scored the equaliser, played very well against Millwall, found himself out of the side against Burnley, not on performances, but kept his head down and came in against Swansea and made the difference.’
Your Next Pompey Read: 'It didn't look great': Portsmouth concerns after being hit by fresh injury blows