'Excellent' Blackpool loanee excused from blame by Portsmouth boss in frustrating Derby stalemate

The Blues haven’t won at home in League One for two-and-a-half months – and not lost there in nine-and-a-half months.

A spirited performance against fellow promotion rivals on Friday night produced a goalless draw yet, crucially, Pompey’s sole shot on target arrived in stoppage time.

Nonetheless, Dale was surely everyone’s man of the match for his excellent showing on the right wing, running left wing-back Louie Sibley ragged.

And Cowley pinpointed the Blackpool loanee as a positive amid the team’s ‘little lack of quality’.

He told The News: ‘In the first half we got a lot of good ball out to Owen and I thought he was excellent.

‘He gave their left wing-back a real problem, it was cross after cross and we just couldn't quite turn those into chances.

‘For one of them, the goalie made a good save and we were annoyed because we should have had an extra player in the box and didn’t.

‘In the second half we dominated the game but just couldn’t create the goal threat we would have liked.

‘But Owen was great, he played with a fizz and a real energy.

‘All of our attacking players are trying to do the hardest things on the pitch, trying to create goals and score goals, so you know, as a consequence, they’re trying to do difficult things so sometimes their consistency is not as high.’

On the opposite flank, Josh Koroma had another poor match before replaced by Ronan Curtis on 61 minutes.

The Republic of Ireland international’s entrance was a welcome one, injecting more energy and drive into the Blues, irrespective of the side’s disappointing outcome.

Still, Cowley wants more from his wingers during this frustrating period.

The Blues’ head coach added: ‘For us, we live by the rules for the quick ball to our wingers, then it’s absolutely their time to try to go one-on-one and beat a man and cross or beat a man and shoot.

‘When we don’t quite get a quick ball in the position to cross, the opposition are able to get numbers across the pitch.

‘Then that’s for us to stay in and try to sustain our attack, then maybe move the ball quicker, with sometimes an extra pass creates a space.’