Portsmouth boss admits red card bewilderment after losing influential midfielder for four of final six matches

But the Blues head coach remains baffled over the reasons for the Welshman’s MK Dons red card – and is still to decide whether to appeal.

Morrell received his marching orders in the 39th minute of the Good Friday 1-1 draw following a scuffle on the ground with Daniel Harvie.

Replays of the incident are not entirely clear, with some frames obstructed.

Nonetheless, following his second red card of the season, Morrell will have an additional match on top of an automatic three-game suspension for violent conduct.

And it means he’ll be available for just the final two matches of the run-in – Derby and Wycombe.

Mousinho told The News: ‘We’ll see what the referee puts in the report and will get some clarity before thinking about what we’ll do with the appeal.

‘Joe picked up the red card at Fleetwood, so we’re looking at losing him for four games, which is obviously a blow.

‘He has been excellent all season and fully, fully deserving of all the praise he has been getting.

‘Joe Morrell is a really, really good player, there’s a reason he has started every game since I have been here. We’ve also kept him on in games, unless there is a physical issue or we’re trying to rest him.

‘Joe really controls the tempo of the game. For a small guy he is physical enough and gets around the pitch really well, while has provided a bit more of a goal threat when playing in that more advanced position.

‘He will be a big miss if we end up not appealing – but that’s the whole point of the squad.

‘We must make sure we have players around him who can come in and do a good job should we lose those players.

‘We cannot feel sorry for ourselves, so let’s lick our wounds and go again. We’re leaving really good players out of the squad at the moment.’

Speaking after the game, Mousinho had not yet had the chance to question referee Carl Brook over the reason for Morrell’s dismissal.

And Pompey’s boss admitted he was himself in the dark.

He added: ‘It seemed there was an altercation on the ground, we can’t see anything from the video and the linesman might have picked something up.

‘But the reason why they were on the ground in the first place is because the MK Dons player has Joe in a headlock – bizarrely no-one has decided to see that – and it obviously ends up on the deck and he’s trying to get out of it.

‘From the footage we’ve seen, very little happens, but obviously the referee decided to send Joe off, which was really disappointing for us.

‘Honestly, from what I have seen, it doesn’t look like there’s anything unless it’s the blindside and we can’t see it.

‘I very briefly spoke with Joe, just to say keep your head up, but we didn’t really have time to go into half-time.’