'We can help' - Portsmouth boss' words of advice to duo dropped for Millwall game
Ibane Bowat and Luke Le Roux found themselves watching from the stands as Pompey beat Millwall at Fratton Park on Saturday
John Mousinho has told Ibane Bowat and Luke Le Roux to keep battling after both players were left out of Pompey’s squad for Saturday’s win against Millwall.
Neither player made the 20-man match-day line-up for the Fratton Park fixture, despite starting the Blues’ past two fixtures against Wrexham and Hull City respectively.
Instead, the duo found themselves watching Pompey beat Alex Neil’s promotion-chasers from the stands, with Mousinho using the opportunity to hand instant recalls the previously injured Adrian Segecic and Callum Lang to his outfield ranks.
The tough selection call and the decision to boost the Blues’ attacking options for the visit of the Lions paid immediate dividends as the hosts recorded their first win in seven outings and climbed one place in the Championship standings to 19th.
And as Pompey now turn their attention to Wednesday night’s important trip to fellow strugglers Sheffield United, Mousinho had some words of advice for his sidelined duo.
He’s advised both Bowat and Le Roux to keep their heads down and to fight their way back into his thoughts.
The Blues head coach also told the pair to take comfort in the examples set by Conor Shaughnessy and Mark Kosznovszky. The former found himself on the bench for Pompey’s opening game of the 2023-24 season, only to become a key figure in the team that secured the League One title that year. Meanwhile, the latter started the win against Millwall, despite being frozen out altogether for the recent game against Wrexham.
John Mousinho on Bowat and Le Roux absences
When asked about the absence of Bowat and Le Roux for Saturday’s game against the Lions, Mousinho said: ‘It’s just one of those things. We can pick 20 players from the squad and that's all we can do.
‘The big thing I'll point out to the lads is the Conor Shaughnessy example that we had a couple of years ago when he was left out of the first match-day squad and he came back in and started 45 games after that.
‘And even more recently, I've got an even better one or a more recent one for the boys. Mark Kosznovszky played, I think, against Birmingham, came out of the squad against Wrexham and found himself back in the starting XI.
‘So we can help them very, very quickly. They've got to keep their heads down and keep doing the right things.’
Bowat and Le Roux’s Pompey struggles this season
Both players have found themselves on the fringes of the first team for long periods this season.
Eleven weeks had passed between Bowat’s first appearance for the club against Reading in the Carabao Cup on August 12 and his next against Birmingham at St Andrew’s on November 1 - a Championship fixture that saw the central defender deployed in an unfamiliar left-back position.
The 23-year-old would go on to retain his starting place for the games against Wrexham and Hull, only for the axe to fall for the match against the Lions after coming under criticism for his display at the MKM Stadium.
Le Roux, meanwhile, remained an unused sub between his maiden start against Ipswich on September 27 and his recall to the starting XI against Wrexham on November 5.
The South African also came in for some slack following his performance against Hull and his substitution during that game at half-time.
Since signing from Varnamo in the summer, the 25-year-old South African has made eight appearances for the Blues, three of which have been Championship starts.
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