Terry Devlin is a man transformed at Portsmouth – John Mousinho

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho praised the quality of Terry Devlin after the defender netted twice in their 3-1 win at Charlton.

The 22-year-old, signed from Glentoran in 2023, produced two swerving shots from outside the box to help seal maximum points for the visitors.

The Northern Ireland right-back’s 22nd-minute opener crept through the legs of Thomas Kaminski while his second in the 56th minute flew into the top of the net.

Asked if Devlin produced the same sort of finish in training, Mousinho replied: “You know what? He strikes the ball really well. It is something he has taken on himself to work on. Terry has had a couple of longer-range strikes where he has been unlucky and forced good saves from goalkeepers.

“The first was a little bit fortuitous but the second was absolutely outstanding. If there is anybody who deserves the credit and praise it is Terry. He has completely transformed his game since we brought him over from Ireland.”

Colby Bishop was also on target, converting a 33rd-minute spot-kick to make it 2-0 after referee Leigh Doughty ruled Amari’i Bell had handled Gustavo Caballero’s cross, as Pompey made light of an injury list in double figures to open up a four-point gap on the Championship’s bottom three.

Mousinho added: “We are delighted with the result and the performance matched it as well.

“Nico Schmid pulled off a massive save in the first minute but after that we took control of the game.

“From the first to the third goal we were superb. We played some really good football but when we went 3-0 up the mentality wasn’t quite where we needed it to be – we made some poor decisions.

“The goal we conceded, we were probably a little too gung-ho and aggressive in the box.

“As soon as we conceded it we started to defend set-pieces a lot better.”

Jayden Fevrier’s first goal since arriving on loan from Stockport on deadline day in the winter transfer window did not spark a comeback.

Charlton boss Nathan Jones was quick to be critical of the performance.

He said: “We were poor tonight. We had a glorious opportunity in the first minute which would have set the tone for the night. We missed that and then we got dominated physically between both boxes.

“I can moan about the goals. The first one goes straight through our goalkeeper – it shouldn’t go in. It is poor. I expect him to save that.

“The second one is a penalty that touches his chest first and then his arm. If we had VAR it would not have stood but we didn’t have it.

“They have scored another from distance. We have got to close him down.

“We’ve had enough chances to affect the scoreline better.

“We have chances from five yards. We probably have the better chances.

“They played Saturday, so we should have been fresh. But they dominated us today.

“We were a mile off where we needed to be.”