John Mousinho's Portsmouth quality admission after disappointing Sheffield Wednesday defeat

Michael Smith’s sublime 70th-minute winner capped a comeback from Sheffield Wednesday, who had been trailing to Connor Ogilvie’s first-half opener.

The Blues had made five changes, including dropping skipper Marlon Pack to the bench, yet, despite an improved display compared to Cardiff, still lost 2-1.

Regardless, Mousinho insists there were a ‘load of positives’ to take from a display driven by the energy of Terry Devlin and Callum Lang. 

Although, crucially, Pompey remain bottom of the Championship as the tough return continues.

He told The News: ‘We did a lot of things really, really well and the most disappointing thing is we didn’t quite follow that up in the early parts of the second half.

‘The effort was there, the endeavour was there, we huffed and puffed towards the end to try to get a goal and created a really good chance, but, ultimately, it wasn’t quite good enough.

‘We clearly looked a lot more solid than we did the other night, we restricted Sheffield Wednesday to very few chances, to be honest we didn’t have a huge amount either. We pressed really well and defended pretty well for the most part.

‘There are a load of positives. I am talking to you here with very, very different emotions to what I felt on Tuesday night, where I was looking at a side unrecognisable in terms of what we want to see.

‘Tonight was much, much closer to what Portsmouth should be like and certainly what I have had in my time here.

‘I was really pleased with the effort, pleased with the endeavour, but we just weren’t quite good enough to get back into the game. Small bits we need to be a lot better at.

‘I don’t look at the game and think we couldn't have won it, we definitely could have - but, ultimately, we weren’t good enough to do that.’

In truth, it was a stunning strike from Smith, a former Pompey striker, to win the occasion.

And while Mousinho complimented the 25-yard finish, he was unhappy over his players’ role earlier in the move.

He added: ‘The most disappointing thing about the second goal is where it came from.

‘It came from us pressing Sheffield Wednesday high up the pitch, we had them pinned in the corner, then we switched off for half a moment. We let one of their players emerge the other side of us and they break out.

‘There’s nothing you can do about the finish, it is a brilliant finish, it’s what happened further up the pitch.’