No manager? No problem. How Portsmouth shrugged off head coach blow to power on towards Championship

Not even the absence of their head coach from the Adams Park dug-out could halt Pompey's relentless drive towards the Championship.

Although the man who instead oversaw League One victory number 25 of a memorable season afterwards refused to take the credit.

With John Mousinho serving a one-match ban following three yellow cards, assistant Jon Harley was handed responsibilities against Wycombe.

He rose to the challenge magnificently, steering the Blues to a 3-1 success through goals from Colby Bishop (two) and Christian Saydee.

No doubt, from his seat in the stands, Mousinho delivered a nod of approval at such sterling work in an impressive Pompey showing.

But a modest Harley was adamant he had plenty of help from the other members of the management team.

He told The News: ‘John was away from the technical area, although it didn’t really affect anything. The communication we had was pretty straightforward

‘He was able to come down to the changing room before the game, at half-time and afterwards, so it didn’t really change a great deal. He just wasn't allowed in the technical area.

‘Some of the coaching staff and analysts were all miked up and Zesh (Rehman) was upstairs with Dan (Ashby), so a lot of communication was going on.

‘It actually gave John a slightly different angle to watch from. He was more set back from the game regarding substitutions, he could read the game a little more rather than being right in the thick of it down here.

‘I wasn’t miked up, but the lads sitting behind me were. We are all that well aligned, so we kind of see the same things anyway. We had the game plan and spaces we wanted to get on the ball, so it wasn’t overly difficult, the communication was pretty straightforward.

‘It’s definitely not my win, though! That’s down to the players and everyone.’

Now unbeaten in 13 matches, the Blues have stretched their advantage over third-placed Bolton to 11 points.

With six fixtures remaining, another eight points would secure a Championship return - with Derby next up on Tuesday (8pm).

Harley added: ‘I understand people want to talk about what potentially could happen, but it genuinely is a case of we have to go game-by-game.

‘The next match is Derby, we have to be on that because they are second in the league. If we take care of that then the focus then becomes Shrewsbury.

‘Everything else will take care of itself, it’s game-by-game. Sorry to be so boring.’