'He’s only 20 and was playing in League Two': Portsmouth boss' admiration after ex-Bristol City youngster's impressive entrance

The former Bristol City man made his Blues bow at the Trotters in January when he appeared off the bench in a 3-0 defeat.

Now, on the occasion of his 10th Pompey outing, he was the inspiration behind defeating the in-form visitors 3-1 at Fratton Park on Tuesday night.

Towler netted twice, with Colby Bishop grabbing the other, yet it’s not merely the central defender’s goal contribution which has got supporters buzzing.

His consistent displays alongside Sean Raggett have also lit up Pompey.

Mousinho told The News: ‘If you take it out of context, Ryley has been excellent.

‘He’s a really good player who has performed brilliantly well, has kept enough clean sheets and come up against some really good centre-forwards.

‘Then you put it into context and realise he’s only 20 and was playing in League Two for the first half of the season. Then you think “Wow, that’s a real effort from the kid”.

‘He has done so well since he’s come in, he’s been thrown in at the deep end, his first appearance was at Bolton and, all of a sudden, he comes against Exeter, has to play his first game at Fratton and, by the way, you’re up against some of the best centre-forwards in the league.

‘One thing I would say is Ryley probably doesn’t look 20 to the eye, he plays like someone with more experience.

‘My demand from him is to forget about age misconceptions and go out there. There are 20-year-olds playing at the top of their game in international football.

‘We need to make sure we don’t use that as anything other than motivation because he has a huge career ahead of him.

‘And I want more from him, I don't want him to be in his shell, I want him to be a leader, just go “Actually, I’m here because I deserve it. I deserve to be here”.’

Before netting against Bolton, Towler’s sole competitive goal was in a 3-1 defeat at Walsall in October while on loan at AFC Wimbledon.

Now he has trebled that haul in one go – with Mousinho urging him to maintain his scoring impact if his career is to progress.

The head coach added: ‘We see a huge amount of enthusiasm from Ryley every day.

‘He puts his work in and deserves the goals. I think he should take a huge amount of credit for it and boost his confidence.

‘As a centre-half, if you can go up and get 5, 6, 7 goals a season from set-pieces then not only does it add hugely to the team but, all of a sudden, people look and say “Wow, there’s a player that’s not just defending really well, but scoring goals”.

‘The more we can get from Ryley, the better. I’m really, really pleased for him.’