Portsmouth 1 Leicester City 0: Neil Allen's verdict - Rich in character and heart, Blues hand lesson to frigid Foxes
The Blues are seven points clear of the Championship relegation zone after a third straight victory
Jannik Vestergaard lingered beside the pitch, demonstrating all the urgency of a teenager instructed it’s time for bed.
Having come to the conclusion that, eight minutes after half-time, his boots necessitated changing, the apathetic Leicester City centre-half’s stocking feet took root, without any ounce of interest in donning a new pair.
It was a curious sight, a ponderous delaying tactic rendered unsuccessful through referee Gavin Ward’s insistence that play must continue without the Danish defender, only for goalkeeper Asmir Begovic’s sudden discovery of an injury to helpfully halt proceedings.
In that 53rd minute, the battle between relegation rivals was locked in a goalless stalemate, yet, bafflingly, the visitors continued to demonstrate absolutely no interest in forcing a result, with killing the clock seemingly the priority.
Pompey had lost Keshi Anderson and Terry Devlin, their entire right flank, to season-ending hamstring injuries by the 17th minute. The finely-honed gameplan was not so much rewritten but torn up and put through the paper shredder.
Yet still the frigid Foxes refused to engage, showing significantly more enthusiasm for wasting time and throttling the game’s tempo than being adventurous in surely a must-win fixture for their Championship survival aspirations.
Pompey are a very different proposition at present
Perhaps this was Gary Rowett’s masterplan being perfectly executed. After all, the Blues this season have desperately struggled for creativity and a goal output when faced with visiting sides content to defend deep for lengthy periods before hitting on the break.
Yet that was a noticeable weakness in those gloomy relegation-threatened days pre-QPR. With immaculate timing, Mousinho’s men have since evolved, Andre Dozzell is back from injury, Colby Bishop is looking his old self, Nicolas Schmid has rediscovered his form. Thankfully, Pompey are a very different proposition at present.
Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Leicester drove the Blues’ points tally to 11 from a possible 15 since that 6-1 debacle, putting them tantalisingly within arm’s reach of safety with three matches remaining.
Remarkably, they are now just three points short from reaching last season’s haul of 54, which saw them finish a credible 16th in a first Championship season after 12 years of exile.
Upon reflection, Loftus Road was Paul Cook’s Crewe, it was Harry Redknapp’s Aston Villa, it was Alan Ball’s Crewe away, even Mousinho’s Preston last year. The watershed moment in a season beginning to unravel.
Seven points above the relegation zone
On this occasion, Ibane Bowat bundled in Adrian Segecic’s right-wing corner at the far post in the 63rd minute. Even the goalscorer was unsure which part of the body had applied the crucial touch, nonetheless it was a drab game’s decisive moment, while positioning the Blues seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Certainly Bowat, Jordan Williams and, to an extent, Madiodio Dia epitomise this late-season transformation. Squad players who struggled for match minutes, yet suddenly establishing themselves as integral parts of Pompey’s march to Championship safety.
With Connor Ogilvie suspended and Zak Swanson suffering a season-ending injury, Williams has been handed regular involvement for the first time in three-and-a-half months - with the Blues subsequently winning all three of those starts.
Dia was challenged with deputising for a rested Conor Shaughnessy at Norwich and then Middlesbrough, representing his second and third starts in English football following a deadline day arrival from pre-season in Norway. The Senegalese centre-half has emerged from those significant tests with his reputation hugely enhanced.
As for Bowat, one of six available centre-halves at present, yet possessing the edge on some of his rivals being a natural left footer, he finds himself part of proceedings once more after previously failing to make Mousinho’s 20-man match-day squad for four successive games.
The 23-year-old’s winner against Leicester capped his comeback and, on a day when even more injuries stacked up, he has demonstrated the depth within a squad which, admittedly, lacks the Foxes’ talent, yet far surpasses them in character.
Players considerably richer in heart and commitment
For while Gary Rowett’s multi-million pound-valued squad brimming with Premier League and international experience sauntered through Saturday’s game with staggering indifference, they were undone by a group of players considerably richer in terms of heart and commitment.
Regan Poole throwing himself in front of Vestergaard’s shot, Marlon Pack squaring up to Jordan Ayew, an emotional Devlin distraught about leaving the fray prematurely through injury. That wins relegation battles.
Not players attempting to slow a game down by changing their boots or Hamza Choudhury exploding in a hissy fit after being ridiculed by home supporters following his substitution. And neither by Harry Winks swearing at Leicester followers as he boarded the team bus afterwards.
These Pompey paupers may possess one of the lowest budgets, yet they are full value for their Championship presence - for another season at the very least.