John Mousinho praises Portsmouth players’ character after comeback win

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho praised his players’ character after watching them come from behind to beat Blackburn 2-1 and secure a vital win in the battle against Championship relegation.

Pompey were on the way to an eighth defeat in 10 matches when Yuki Ohashi scored a fine opener for Rovers.

But Callum Lang equalised after 62 minutes before Ibane Bowat headed in a late winner for his first Pompey goal.

Mousinho said: “The football club needed that result. We needed the performance more than anything because, I thought we were drab coming out in the second half, considering how much we had to play for.

“So the fact that we got back into the game and showed that level of intensity and desire to get ourselves the win was important.”

Portsmouth had been booed off by a section of the home crowd as they trailed at half-time.

But the Fratton Park faithful burst into life following a flurry of attacks which saw Pompey come close to scoring three times in a frantic 30 seconds, before Lang struck the equaliser.

Mousinho said: “When that first goal went in, it was as loud and as boisterous as I can remember at Fratton Park.

“It was such a brilliant moment for everybody connected to the football club and ultimately spurred us on to go and win the game.

“For the first 10-15 minutes of the second half, there was a bit of frustration, but it could have been a lot worse.

“Through this run and the Bristol City game, I’ve thought ‘fair play for sticking with us’. We were pretty realistic about where we are as a football club, but we still need to show a little bit more.”

Furious Rovers manager Valerien Ismael criticised his players for surrendering such an important lead against their relegation rivals and promised that there would be changes to the squad in January.

He said: “It’s concentration, it’s basics. I spoke about it at half-time, all details count in those games.

“We have to defend all together, we have to attack all together and we go for the second goal, but if we have to defend, we defend. In one moment we didn’t make it and this is a big frustration.

“I have the possibility to change the players. It’s as simple as that.

“The January window will come and we assess everything. Either you do the job, or you get out and the next one comes in.

“We spoke already with the board and we’ve already got the list identified.”

He added: “Ideally, we have them on the first of January, but I know that it’s always difficult.

“The week after is the game against Hull City in the FA Cup. I think we can use that game to integrate all the new players.”