'Sometimes football's unfair': Portsmouth boss John Mousinho addresses Ben Killip's sudden axing
Josef Bursik was handed his Pompey debut at Portman Road on Saturday
John Mousinho reflected on his decision to drop Ben Killip and insisted: ‘Sometimes football’s a little unfair’.
In the aftermath of Nicolas Schmid fracturing his hand against Southampton, Killip had received the head coach’s strong backing to replace the Austrian.
However, that first-team run would last just one match, with the former Barnsley man subsequently jettisoned following the Sheffield Wednesday defeat.
Instead, deadline-day arrival Josef Bursik started Saturday’s trip to Ipswich, which resulted in a 2-1 loss for the Blues, with Killip on the bench.
The debutant, one of five changes, looked confident and composed throughout, while producing one superb finger-tip save to deny Dara O’Shea late on to cap a solid display.
And Mousinho has explained the reasoning behind the swift change of heart on his starting goalkeeper.
Portsmouth boss: Ben is very unlucky
He told The News: ‘It was a tough decision. We thought about it after the Sheffield Wednesday game and, ultimately, decided we would go with Joe.
‘Ben is very unlucky to be left out. I don’t think he deserved it necessarily or probably deserved a bit more of a chance, but sometimes football’s a little unfair.
‘I don’t think Joe had a huge amount to do in terms of saves made, obviously the two goals there’s nothing he can do. There are certain elements of the distribution we can keep working on, but he came into the building quite late so hasn’t been here that long.
‘We spent a long time in pre-season working on what we are going to do from the back, so I think there’s loads of improvement there.’
Long-running pursuit of the Club Brugge keeper
Pompey had been working on recruiting Bursik from Club Brugge all summer before finally securing the ex-England youth international on the final day of the transfer window.
As a consequence, Sheffield Wednesday was his first inclusion in the Blues squad, albeit as an unused substitute and with Schmid having been ruled out for up to 12 weeks.
Killip made his fifth Pompey appearance in that 2-0 defeat and received criticism over his positioning for Barry Bannan’s free-kick, which handed the Owls the opening goal.
The 29-year-old’s kicking has also come under scrutiny, particularly following his substitute appearance in the goalless draw at Southampton, having replaced the injured Schmid.
Now Bursik has the first-team shirt in his possession, potentially until December at the very latest when Schmid is able to return from his fractured right hand.
As for Killip, on Saturday he returned to the bench and is now likely to remain there, with Jordan Archer out of favour and serving as fourth choice.
‘What we need from the entire squad is competition’
But Mousinho has stressed the importance of competition between all his available goalkeepers as the Blues strive to maintain high standards.
He added: ‘At the minute, Ben is still competing for the number one spot, we are always wanting our goalkeepers to do that.
‘If we need to make a change for any position on the pitch at any time, what we need from the entire squad is competition.’
Your Next Pompey Read: 'Ruthless': Pompey boss rues big first-half moment as Ipswich capitalise to topple Blues