Portsmouth boss applauds under-pressure players after bouncing back to claim gutsy Norwich point

John Mousinho praised his Pompey players after bouncing back from the QPR debacle with a gutsy Carrow Road point.

Having lost 6-1 at QPR in their previous away match, the Blues found themselves trailing after 26 minutes through Norwich midfielder Pelle Mattsson’s goal.

However, any anticipated capitulation never occurred, as the visitors dug deep and stepped up their game after the break to pose far more of a threat.

They were rewarded with an 84th-minute leveller when Mattsson put Colby Bishop’s header through his own net as it finished 1-1.

And Mousinho was delighted with his team’s response as they remain one point above the Championship relegation zone.

He told The News: ‘I’m pretty pleased with the whole performance. The first half was a cagey affair from our standpoint, but we needed to react a certain way from two weeks ago where after 20 minutes we were 3-0 down against QPR and the game was more or less done.

‘So we need to try to manage the game and I felt we did that pretty well and still had chances when a goal down.

‘We showed a bit more belief in the second half, we pinned Norwich in at the start of the half and then as it went on. They are a really, really good side and always going to be a threat, but we restricted them to very few chances, I can’t remember Nico really making a save, other than the one that was straight down the barrel.

‘A couple of times away from home we conceded the goal against the run of play, such as against QPR, and then all of a sudden we didn’t respond well to it.

‘We probably did the same thing against Wrexham, just before half-time, conceding the second and it was too much to get back into it.

‘Whereas today we managed to stay in the game, we had a couple of opportunities from set-plays, a couple of breaks that we maybe should have done a bit better then just showed in the second half we can turn the screw at times and defend very well when we need to.

‘I thought, on balance, we thoroughly deserved the point.’

Blackburn were the only team among the five relegation candidates to collect a win, with Leicester City, Oxford United, West Brom and, of course Pompey, all drawing.

With seven matches to play, the Blues host Oxford on Bank Holiday Monday for another crucial fixture in their battle to avoid a League One return.

Mousinho added: ‘I would have liked to have won the game, we came here to try to win it. We didn’t necessarily come here to go all out in the first half and be all guns blazing, we have probably done that a couple of times away from home and not quite had the rewards of that.

‘But it was really, really important to make sure we responded to QPR. First of all performance-wise - and it has given us a nice boost going into Monday into terms of the point and confidence.

‘My take is - and I am not just saying this because we have taken a point from them - Norwich are one of the best sides in the league, with the squad, with the way they play.

‘I know they had a poor start to the season, but I would be astounded if their form since then isn’t top three or four.’