Wolves 1 Portsmouth 1: Neil Allen's verdict - Rested and rotated, yet gutsy Blues earn late point

John Mousinho opted for practicality and player preservation as he rotated his exhausted side entering the Wolves den.

And, remarkably, his much-changed team snatched an unexpected point thanks to a stunning late goal from the recalled Terry Devlin.

Marlon Pack, Zak Swanson, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen and Marko Milovanovic were all rested at Molineux after three games in seven days, as their head coach targeted Millwall on Saturday as a more realistic proposition.

Certainly the Fratton faithful could be forgiven for fearing an away hammering on the scale of West Brom and Bristol City in the 2024-25 Championship season after a similar selection approach.

Thankfully, however, the squad is far better built to cope these days and there was no such ugly repeat - thanks to a wonderful piece of skill from Devlin.

The Northern Ireland international was joined by Ebou Adams, Rocco Shein and Tyrese Shade in the starting XI, yet, despite the changes, Wolves found it tough to break down the visitors.

Having been booed off by their fans at the break following an insipid first-half, it took the hosts until the 61st minute to finally break the deadlock through substitute Jordan James.

It signalled a changing of the tide and suddenly Wolves were looking far more capable of adding to their slender advantage.

Then, with four minutes remaining, Devlin popped up with a leveller to stun the Molineux crowd - and extend Pompey’s run to one defeat in their last seven games.

Refreshing his team - and in the absence of Bishop - Mousinho put Shade started at centre-forward, while Segecic moved to the left wing, with Rocco Shein the furthest central midfielder forward.

That left Iyad Mohamed as the number six, taking over the mantle from Pack, while Devlin slotted into his familiar right-back role.

Meanwhile, with 11 players unavailable, Mousinho again named two goalkeepers on the bench in Daniel Bielica and Ben Killip.

However, Thomas Waddingham returned from injury to take his place among the substitutes, replacing the injured Bishop in the squad.

The Australian hasn’t featured since the opening day of the season at West Ham after damaging his ankle in the Carabao Cup fixture.

It was an uneventful start to proceedings at a Molineux with a far few empty seats, while 1,974 travelling Pompey fans occupied the corner of the ground.

The atmosphere from the home fans was surprisingly flat, although their team were hardly sparking them into life, with a very pedestrian beginning to the match.

However, on 23 minutes, a poor clearance from Nicolas Schmid came right back and it was only through an excellent block from Regan Poole on Rafiki Said’s shot which prevented any damage.

At the other end, a lovely left-footed ball over the top from Mohamed sent Shade galloping in on goal, only for Jose Sa to charge out of his box and get there just before him to clear.

On 35 minutes, Segegic won a free-kick down the left and picked himself up off the floor to deliver a ball into the box, which was ballooned into the air by the head of Dia.

It then fell to Shade, who miskicked a half-volley, before rebounding to Shein on the edge of the box, whose shot trickled harmlessly past the far post.

Yet it proved to be an unforgettable half of football, with neither side particularly threatening, with the visitors extremely comfortable and curiously allowed to keep possession deep.

Certainly the Wolves fans made their feelings known at the half-time whistle, booing their team after an insipid opening 45 minutes.

The hosts made two substitutions at the break with Jordan James and Tawanda Chirewa replacing Marshall Munetsi and Sean Neave.

Wolves came agonisingly close to scoring five minutes after the restart when Chirewa beat Shade too easily and fired in an angled shot which deflected off Dia and struck the bar, before bouncing clear.

The Blues made their own double substitution on 53 minutes, with Shein and Shade coming off for Milovanovic and Kavuma-McQueen.

Wolves were proving to be far more adventurous and on the front foot this half, often having 10 players in Pompey’s half of the pitch for attacks as they pushed for the breakthrough.

That finally arrived in the 61st minute, although the visitors only have themselves to blame.

Devlin had dealt well with an attack down the Blues’ right, only for Kamara to then carelessly pass the ball straight back to Wolves, helpfully allowing them to stage another attack.

The hosts didn’t need a second invitation, with the ball eventually pushed into James in the right channel and his angled right-footed shot beat Schmid at his near post to make it 1-0.

It had all emanated from Kamara’s mistake and the winger knew it, clearly cross with himself as Wolves celebrated breaking the deadlock.

Mousinho’s men now had a huge mountain to climb, yet it was Wolves who looked far more likely to grab the game’s second goal.

On 75 minutes, Eoin Kenny and Odin Bailey replaced Kamara and Mohamed, with the Blues desperately in need of something to stem the tide as they head towards defeat.

Then, on 86 minutes, Segecic’s free-kick from the left hit the wall and ricocheted to Devlin, lurking on the edge of the box.

The right-back controlled it on his knee, before unleashing a right-footed volley into the far corner of the net for a stunning leveller.

In the dying seconds, Segecic was replaced by Pack to defend a Wolves free-kick, but it didn’t even arrive in the box as Tommy Doyle strode forward before blazing a shot over the bar - and it finished 1-1.