Portsmouth boss makes promise after raising eyebrows with Crewe team selection

Last night’s 3-1 victory at Crewe saw the Blues make it six wins out of seven as Cowley’s men closed in on the play-offs.

The gap is now just five points thanks to another George Hirst double and Tyler Walker’s maiden goal for the club.

The win arrived with Cowley making three changes from the team who demolished Accrington 4-0 on Saturday.

Man of the match Ryan Tunnicliffe dropped to the bench at Gresty Road, while in-form Aiden O’Brien made way for Walker, despite being in flying form.

Cowley knew he would have faced criticism from fans is the result didn’t go Pompey’s way, but with such a small squad he’s acutely aware of placing too much strain on his players.

He said: ‘Ryan Tunnicliffe and Aiden O’Brien were two of our best players on Saturday.

‘They were like four players really because they had to jump out and play like eights, and it was a huge physical effort for them.

‘If you look at their GPS they both ran 1,000m at high speed.

‘Aiden’s hamstring was a bit tight yesterday, but he wanted to play because he’s a great kid with great enthusiasm.

‘Sometimes you have to make the tough decisions, that’s what it is.

‘It’s not about making easy decisions, it’s about making the right decisions.

‘We did that to protect Aiden and Ryan is still coming back, so after exerting as much energy as he did we knew that would be a risk for.

‘Ultimately, when you’ve got 13 senior (outfield) players, you have look after them.’

Pompey now face another two matches on the road, with trips to Ipswich and Plymouth to come.

Cowley has to weigh up which of his players are feeling the strain as the fixtures come thick and fast - and act accordingly.

He added: ‘I’ve learnt in management you’re not going to keep everyone happy - and the biggest mistake you make is to try to keep everyone happy.

‘You have to just try to make the honest decision.

‘Sometimes supporters don’t have all the available information.

‘That’s not their fault because we don’t always divulge it, because we don’t want to tell the opponent where we are in terms of the squad.

‘So it’s par for the course, but I’ve got a pretty thick skin and with every decision there’s a lot of detail and time and energy which goes into it.

‘We always try to pick the right team for the right game.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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