'We haven't replaced him': Portsmouth boss' frank admission over absence of Fratton favourite

Conor Shaughnessy’s absence has now reached eight games - and a concerned John Mousinho admits Pompey still haven’t managed to replace him.

The Irishman’s hamstring tear in September’s 2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday is expected to sideline him until shortly before the Christmas period,

Subsequently, Josh Knight and Hayden Matthews have, in turn, been challenged to fill the gulf created by the League One title-winning hero's untimely injury.

Operating alongside Regan Poole, there have been strong defensive moments without Shaughnessy this season, yet three successive defeats, culminating in the 4-0 embarrassment at Birmingham, have raised question marks.

And with Knight, Matthews and Ibane Bowat fighting to start in the vacant spot against Wrexham tonight (8pm), Mousinho is still searching for the ideal Shaughnessy stand-in.

The Pompey coach told The News: ‘Considering we have chopped and changed in there, you’d have to say we have still to replace Conor Shaughnessy.

‘Until we get a settled back four then maybe you’re going to have a look at that and say “Okay, Shocks is out injured and we have missed him”. We missed him hugely last year.

‘Probably after when he was first out this season, it felt we were in a decent bit of form. Take Ipswich out of it, it was Watford, Middlesbrough and Leicester, that’s a pretty good return. Even with the Coventry game, I suppose, defensively we’ve been pretty good overall.

‘As it stands now, the facts of the matter are we haven’t quite managed to replace him. The centre-half battle at the moment is pretty close, the battle for places across the board is close, it’s fierce.

‘I know it can be said we’ve got some settled players we don’t want to change too much but, at some point, you also have to make sure we’re realistic about competition and give players the chance to go and prove themselves.

‘I would include Ibs (Bowat) in that. He’s had one start for us in the league and that was out of position, so absolutely he is a consideration at centre-back too.’

Bowat was pushed into an unfamiliar left-back role at St Andrew’s, with Connor Ogilvie and Jacob Farrell ruled out though illness and injury respectively.

That represented his first league outing for the Blues since signing in August 2024, following a serious knee injury sustained 10 days into his Fratton Park stay.

Matthews, who started at Birmingham, had returned to the side in place of Knight in the previous fixture against Stoke, when he also scored an own goal in that 1-0 loss.

While Knight, who joined from Hannover 96 in the summer transfer window, had initially been Shaughnessy’s replacement for five successive matches.

Now Mousinho must decide whether to overhaul his centre-half spots against Wrexham following the Birmingham 4-0 hammering.

‘That took me by surprise, to be honest’

He added: ‘The defensive record up until Birmingham had been good, around the 8-9th best defensive side in the league.

‘We never at any point looked like shipping a huge amount of goals, we stayed in a lot of games and were pretty solid. Then last weekend we conceded four and it could be double that.

‘That took me by surprise, to be honest. Ultimately, we defended for the entirety of the game very poorly.

‘I don’t think you can look at that and say the front six defended really well and the back four were all over the place. That wasn’t the case whatsoever, it was the entire team not defending well enough.

‘We conceded from three set-plays for the first three goals, that doesn't tell the whole picture. We could have conceded from open play in the lead up to some of those as well.

‘With the entire team’s performance defensively - plus you naturally look at the back four - and you have to say our defensive play just wasn't good enough.’

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