Danny Cowley open to ripping up trusted Portsmouth system after Ipswich tactical success

And the head coach revealed employing three at the back remains in his thoughts as he strives to boost Blues results.

Cowley’s favoured 4-4-2 system has received growing criticism from some sections of supporters during a disappointing run of one win in nine League One matches.

Nonetheless, during that time his side have progressed in the FA Cup and, on Tuesday night at Ipswich, the Papa John’s Trophy.

Leading 1-0 through Dane Scarlett against the Tractor Boys, Cowley made a quadruple substitution in the 67th minute and changed his system to a back three.

The tactical switch proved hugely effective in seeing out victory, with substitute Zak Swanson also netting in stoppage time to seal a 2-0 win.

And ahead of MK Dons’ FA Cup visit on Saturday, Cowley is buoyed by the success of a system which could again be rolled out.

He told The News: ‘A back three is an option for us, for sure, and something we can use, as we did last year.

‘Ultimately for us it’s always to be adaptable, we never worry about the numbers, it’s never big things for us.

‘People probably don’t know, but we have been building a back three in recent times anyway, Zak’s been in, Owen’s been hugging the touchline, Rags has been in the middle.

‘In possession and out of possession players move. People put a formation on a tactics board but, in modern-day, you’re one thing in possession, one thing out of possession, and transitions look completely different as well.

‘The truth is at home we’ve been trying to win games, so when you are trying to win games you don’t always want to use a back five.

‘There’s an argument to say it’s a back three and you almost have wingers as wing-backs, which can be an offensive change, but for us it’s always to be with an open mind and to find the right solutions.

‘Against Ipswich, we introduced it because we felt they were getting more and more open. The better we defended, the more open it got and the more we were able to win the ball and counter them.

‘What we did to Ipswich has probably happened to us at times in recent games, when we’ve had a lot of the ball at home and not quite been able to break down the opponent.’

On Tuesday night, Cowley’s formation change involved introducing Clark Robertson and Sean Raggett off the bench to partner Michael Morrison in a back three.

Meanwhile, Denver Hume and Owen Dale operated as the wing-backs, with Swanson surprisingly put into a central-midfield role.

It paid dividends – with a fourth win in the last 13 games.

Cowley added: ‘Ipswich ask an awful lot of questions of you, they love to run the half spaces, they look to overload you in wide areas, and you have to be really, really disciplined.

‘You have to choose the right moments when to press and when to be aggressive and go after them, try to win it back. There are moments where we have to stay together and be compact and not allow anything through.

‘On the night I thought we got the balance right.’