Ex-Carlisle man earns Portsmouth boss praise amid welcome injury boost for luckless Blues

John Mousinho has saluted Owen Moxon’s ‘growing’ performances after answering Pompey’s midfield SOS.

The former Carlisle man has stepped impressively into the void vacated by Alex Robertson, Joe Morrell, Ben Stevenson and now Tom Lowery.

In the case of Lowery, a scan on Friday provided encouraging news, pinpointing a first-team return at the end of March.

Still, January recruit Moxon has now started the Blues’ last matches, the latest Saturday’s goalless draw at Charlton.

And Mousinho has sung the 26-year-old’s praises.

He told The News: ‘Owen grew into the game and I thought he showed some really, really good touches towards the back end of the game, especially.

‘It was a very, very tough game for the central midfielders in there, really competitive if you look at Charlton’s midfield three including George Dobson and Tyreeq Bakinson. They have a wealth of experience at this level, plus Karoy Anderson off the back of a good performance at Bolton.

‘It was a really tough battle in there and a lot of second balls dropping down, so I was really pleased with Owen’s performance and how he has grown into the side.

‘Absolutely he has helped us cope without Tom (Lowery). We always have other options and certainly with Owen we thought he fully deserves his place in the side.

‘He’s really growing into things in terms of learning the system - and is getting better and better each week.’

Lowery tore his hamstring in the first-half against Cambridge United earlier this month.

It represented another blow in a season which has seen six players ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

But Mousinho is optimistic over the ex-Crewe midfielder.

He added: ‘It’s always difficult to say it’s good news when a player is injured, but we feared Tom might be a bit longer because of the location of the injury.

‘It’s not as bad as it was last season, so we are looking at about six weeks in total before a return to training following the incident. Taking a couple of those out already, it’s four weeks.

‘We are going to be cautious with Tom anyway, in terms of his return to training and return to playing because of his injury record, but it's not as bad as it was last season.

‘The scan showed a minor tear, but it was the location we weren't sure about - and that's what the specialist had to make sure.

‘Tom coming back towards the end of March is going to be great news for us.’