Portsmouth boss: Forget Manchester City loanee Gavin Bazunu's mistake - blame others for Rotherham defeat

The loanee has been in outstanding form for the Blues and the Republic of Ireland this season, establishing himself as a firm fans’ favourite.

However, his fumble from Dan Barlaser’s 55th minute shot allowed Michael Smith to grab his second of Saturday’s match.

With the scoreline at 1-1, it was a pivotal moment, subsequently heralding three goals in eight minutes for a shell-shocked Pompey.

Cowley, however, is standing by the impressive young talent, who again made some key saves.

And he believes other weaknesses around the Blues’ game is instead largely responsible for the crushing defeat.

Cowley told The News: ‘Gavin’s a young player, but goalies will make mistakes no matter what age they are, he has still been brilliant for us.

‘I just think it’s a shot from distance which looks really easy for Gavin to claim. He might have mis-read it, he might have been looking to catch it and play on the counter too quickly, I don’t know, I’d have to ask him.

‘He thought he’d got away with it, it bounced around the box, they scored.

‘Like always, we will obviously go through the match in forensic detail.

‘I don’t want to get too fixated on that because that’s not the reason we lost. The reason we lost is because of our response after conceding that goal.

‘Sometimes you want good team-mates to dig their mates out of difficult moments. They make a mistake, they are going to go and respond to it, but we weren’t able to find the inspiration to do it.

‘Gavin’s a boy who is incredibly focused. He’s very, very professional and has an unbelievable mindset. He made a mistake, he'll get over it, he’s a tough boy.

‘He’s on the pathway to success, there is absolutely no doubt about that. This won't be the first mistake he makes and it won’t be the last, for sure.’

Cowley has previously raised the issue of his side lacking the capacity to respond to set-backs in matches.

This was also apparent in September’s 1-0 loss at MK Dons and is clearly recognised as a problem by the man in charge.

Certainly he was not laying any criticism on Bazunu, who was making his 11th appearance of the season for the Blues.

The 19-year-old has largely been faultless since arriving from Manchester City on a season-long loan to claim a first-team spot ahead of Alex Bass.

Cowley added: ‘We have to find the solution to why we don’t have resilience, that’s my job.

‘We have to find a way of dealing with disappointment better than we currently are.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can support our local team of expert Pompey writers by subscribing here for all the latest news from Fratton Park for less than 13p a day.