John Mousinho refuses to rip up Portsmouth philosophy after caught out at Cheltenham

John Mousinho has vowed not to change his Pompey philosophy after hammering the self-destruct button at Cheltenham.

Liam Sercombe capitalised on poor Blues defending to net twice in three minutes as the Blues suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at the League One strugglers.

The second goal in particular was preventable, with Conor Shaughnessy caught in possession while attempting to dribble across George Lloyd inside the penalty area.

It was a rare mistake from one of Pompey’s players of the season, nonetheless was responsible for Cheltenham’s winner in a match the visitors dominated.

But Mousinho insists he will continue to encourage the league leaders to build from the back in pursuit of victory.

He told The News: ‘What happened for the second goal won’t stop us playing out from the back, not at all.

‘The error Conor made is one of those things, it obviously happens, the frustrating thing is I just think we need to make slightly better decisions in those moments, especially away from home.

‘He has been one of our better players this season, he’s been fantastic. Conor will be the first to hold his hands up and won’t be pleased with the ball in the back of the net.

‘In hindsight, he should have cleared the ball. But I never want to have a go at players for trying to play because we get a lot of good opportunities from the fact we do get the ball down and play. We don’t just launch it forward every time.

‘I just think in certain situations when you are under a bit of pressure away from home, particularly after conceding the first goal in a similar fashion, we should probably make sure we switch on and manage the game better.

‘That's how we want to play, that’s how we want to beat teams, we want to mix it as well. I thought we mixed it really well in the first half, so there’s a combination of trying to play out from the back and obviously going longer to Colby, Abu and Paddy at times.

‘I think that’s the best way to be. If you are a bit too one-dimensional, it’s much easier to find teams out.’

Saturday aside, Shaughnessy has been exemplary during his maiden Pompey season.

He also shrugged off his error to continue showing willingness to receive the ball and utilise it at Whaddon Road as the Blues unsuccessful chased a leveller.

Mousinho added: ‘I don’t need to have a go at Conor, he will be disappointed himself.

‘In a lot of ways, I don’t need to be too harsh on the boys, they are incredibly disappointed with Saturday and came away with a loss.

‘We need to win those games and now don’t have that cushion at the top of the league. We can’t afford to do things like we did at Cheltenham.’