Portsmouth boss' admission after 10-man Blackpool frustrate League One leaders as Derby capitalise

John Mousinho admitted it was ‘one of those days’ after failing to break down 10-man Blackpool.

The Blues finished their Bloomfield Road encounter with Paddy Lane, Colby Bishop, Abu Kamara, Christian Saydee and Kusini Yengi all on the pitch as they threw on all attacking options in search of a winner.

However, the gutsy Tangerines held on for a goalless draw, having been at a numerical disadvantage for the final 47 minutes plus time added-on after Jordan Rhodes’ dismissal.

Considering the context of the game, it was disappointing for the League One leaders, who also hit the post three times, while goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw was announced as the host’s man of the match.

And, although disappointed, Mousinho was philosophical over the outcome.

He told The News: ‘I’m definitely disappointed. You would have seen by bringing Christian and Kusini on that we wanted to win the game. We changed shape to be a bit more attacking, we kept all the attacking players we could on the pitch.

‘The front five we ended the game with was Paddy, Abs, Kas, Christian and Colby. I thought Christian did really well, he made things happen, and Abs had a couple of really good opportunities.

‘Paddy was excellent and popped into that pocket really well, causing them a lot of problems, especially in the second half, and we were very, very close to actually getting the goal we probably deserved.

‘The fact that Blackpool had 10 men means we didn’t have too much to worry about in terms of shape defensively, although we still had the attacking transition to worry about and their set-pieces.

‘We created more than enough chances to win the game, things didn’t quite fall for us and their keeper has won man of the match.

‘It was one of those afternoons. When you are top of the league, most things fall for you across the season and Saturday was just one of those days.’

Mousinho was unhappy with aspects of Pompey’s first-half play, particularly their failure to be more progressive with the ball.

And he agreed with those among the 2,115 travelling faithful who had reacted to that disappointing spell.

He added: ‘I was actually slightly more disappointed with the first half, there were a couple of moans and groans from the Pompey fans which I agreed with.

‘My take to the bench was I actually see it, we should be going forward in those situations. It’s not all about going forward every time, we turned down a couple of crosses and turned down a couple of opportunities to really get at them.

‘After the red card we are in the ascendancy, it would have been great for us to have won the game, but we didn’t, so are disappointed with the outcome.

‘Overall we dust ourselves off and go again on Tuesday against Burton.’