Portsmouth boss’ message over surprise omission of Bristol City arrival and former Arsenal man after impressive showing

And the Blues boss promised Ryley Towler, Zak Swanson and Ben Stevenson they are close to the starting XI - despite being left out of the squad at Leyton Orient.

Omissions were one of the big pre-game talking points in east London, with Ryley Towler failing to make the squad after starting against Bristol Rovers and Zak Swanson left out after impressing against Forest Green on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Ben Stevenson missed out on making the 18 for the second league game in a row, despite a sound display at New Lawn on Tuesday night.

Mousinho’s selection was more than justified by the emphatic 4-0 win, but he acknowledged Towler could feel hard done by.

He said: ‘It was a really tough one and I didn’t have a great amount to say to him, other than the way we want to shape up and who we have on the bench.

‘Ryley has been excellent through pre-season and he captained the side a couple of times.

‘So it was a tough one for him and one I have to convince him that there is absolutely no issue whatsoever.

‘It’s just we’ve got a really competitive squad and that’s just the way it is.

‘The hardest thing I’m doing at the moment is having conversations with players who deserve to be in the starting line-up, let alone the squad.

‘It’s a tough one to have - but long may it continue.

‘I don’t like having tough conversations, but it’s a much better place for me to be in and it’s why we’ve tried to build the squad like we have.’

While Towler was the 19th man and made the trip to east London, Swanson was left at home despite getting on the scoresheet and shining on Tuesday.

Mousinho believes the manner in which Conor Shaughnessy was left out against Bristol Rovers - before starting the next two games shows how players are closer to starting than they sometimes may feel.

He added: ‘Zak was outstanding the other night. He scored and was a constant threat down the right.

‘I had a chat with Zak and told him the likelihood was he won’t be on the bench or travelling with the squad.

‘The trick with that is for me to convince the players they are much closer than they feel to making an impact on the first XI.

‘It’s really difficult when you’re sat at home and watch a 4-0 scoreline come in. They probably feel miles away from it - but they are genuinely not.

‘Thankfully I’ve had a chance to hopefully demonstrate that to them with Conor Shaughnessy not being in the squad last week - and then probably being my man of the match.’