Portsmouth boss’ verdict key red card decision as his side’s charge continues and Wigan Athletic fume

The Blues delivered a 2-1 win at the DW Stadium to keep up their flying start to the season and make it 21 league games unbeaten.

The home crowd and Wigan bench were fuming with referee Will Finnie’s performance, with striker Charlie Wyke sent off three minutes after the restart.

Shaun Maloney’s staff were enraged with what unfolded and accused the Pompey bench of getting the striker sent off, with assistant boss Graham Barrow booked along with Blues coach Jon Harley.

Pack was unable to continue, however, and Mousinho felt the ref got the call right.

He said: ‘It looked at the time that he jumped in and he injured Marlon, which is the most disappointing thing for us.

‘I haven’t seen it again, but my thought at the time was those challenges can end in red cards because they injure players.

‘Marlon isn’t coming off unless he’s hurt, so I thought it was an unnecessary challenge at that stage of the game and the referee dealt with it well.’

The red card came after a first half in which Pompey once again came from behind to take the lead at the break - and ultimately go on to collect three points.

Goals once again from Regan Poole and Paddy Lane cancelled out Martial Godo’s opener, with Mousinho pleased with the qualities his side showed.

He said: ‘We don’t want to make a habit of going a goal down, but it can happen.

‘I thought we were okay, though.

‘Wigan started really well, as you would expect because they are a good side in a completely false league position.

‘I actually think it’s even more false in a way because when you start with minus eight points it’s really difficult to make those up.

‘They have a lot of attacking quality in their side.

‘So the biggest compliment I can give the lads is going 1-0 down, they didn’t panic.

‘I felt quite calm that we would stick to the game plan and create chances - which we did.

‘So to come from behind in that way shows resilience and a response to adversity, which is brilliant.

‘One of the most pleasing things is scoring from a set-piece again.

‘It’s not just about being good from set-pieces, it’s about creating them and when you have sustained pressure and sustained attacks we want a bit more.

‘In the second half a couple of deliveries were dangerous and a couple hit the front man. We need to get better at that.

‘I’m really happy for Regan to score again and Paddy, who is becoming a real goal threat and producing the overall performance as well.’