Portsmouth boss makes selection admission ahead of Derby game - but insists goal remains the same

But the Blues boss insisted his main objective remains getting a result on the Blues’ latest visit to Pride Park.

Pompey travel to the Rams – who currently sit in the play-off positions – with a seventh-placed finish the best they can hope for this season.

That saw Mousinho spring one or two surprises in his line-up for last Saturday’s 1-0 win against Accrington, with Ryan Tunnicliffe and Sean Raggett making way for Harry Jewitt-White and Di’Shon Bernard respectively.

There was no sign of exciting academy youngster Koby Mottoh, who many of the Fratton faithful would love to see involved at some point.

The Pompey head coach hasn’t ruled out that possibility with two games of the season remaining and supporters keen to see some of the club’s youngsters given a chance. But in his press conference before the Derby game, Mousinho emphasised he was duty-bound to ensure the Blues remained competitive.

When asked if anyone else would be given the chance to impress this weekend, he said: ‘Everyone has always got the chance to impress. I’m not being facetious about that – that’s the way it is.

‘You’re constantly on trial as a professional footballer. I know the coaches are, I am, everyone is – you are always on trial.

‘I know what your question is – is there going to be any new faces in? Quite possibly, but, again, we do have that eye on going up there to try to win the game and try to perform. So we’ve got to be conscious of that and make sure that we do that to the best of our ability.

‘First and foremost, to make sure that it’s fair to the league and, second, because that’s what we need to do day in, day out anyway.

‘We’ve always been on that track and I was quite pleased last week considering there wasn’t anything in terms of league position to play for but the lads still came out and won the game.’

Pompey will be joined by 3,000-plus fans for their first visit to Pride Park for more than a decade.

Joe Morrell is expected to make his Blues return following a four-match ban.