Portsmouth boss refuses to blame ex-Huddersfield man after costly mistakes against Fulham

The former Huddersfield goalkeeper was at the centre of two poor Pompey goals to concede in their 3-3 draw with Fulham Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.

The first involved letting Ben Stevenson’s pass back to run across his body inside the six-yard box, allowing Martial Godo to slide in to net.

Then, on 73 minutes, he initially attempted to close down Delano McCoy-Splatt, before stopping, with the youngster finishing from a tight angle to make it 3-3.

In truth, the Blues should have emphatically beaten the 10-man visitors, but Schofield’s performance is inevitably also under scrutiny.

Mousinho told The News: ‘I have no problem with conceding the second goal.

‘We ask the boys to play, we like them to be a bit more positive and not let the ball run across his body, but, in terms of Ryan, the focus is trying to win the game, which he did at the back end, and about getting game time.

‘The more game time he gets the more he will improve. He needs to put himself in these sort of situations where he’s used to being in those positions, he is used to making saves, he is used to having the ball at his feet – he needs a lot more of that.

‘I wouldn't want to attribute any blame to anything. There are very, very few goals where it’s just one player that has made a mistake, so we need to look at everything from the start to the finish of why the ball ended up there.

‘I know Ryan will be disappointed with that anyway, I just want him to be front footed and deal with it earlier.

‘For the third goal, I couldn’t see it from where I was in terms of the angle. I know they broke and it’s very difficult to see it from the bench, I will have a look at it.

‘For us it’s not about attributing blame to anybody on the pitch, especially if the ball has shifted from wherever it was on our left-wing position all the way back.

‘We want to put ourselves in the position where Ryan doesn’t have to make that save and where he doesn’t have to make a decision.’

Tuesday night represented Schofield’s second Pompey outing after making his debut in the Carabao Cup at Forest Green Rovers earlier in the month.

Although he did end up saving the penalty which earned the Blues a 5-4 shoot-out victory against Fulham’s kids for a bonus point.

Mousinho added: ‘I’m really, really pleased we’ve got Ryan in the building and I’m sure he will be an excellent addition for us.

‘He’s gone and saved the winning penalty and the message overall is really, really positive with Ryan.’