‘Possibilities’: Boss reveals thinking over majestic Manchester City starlet’s Portsmouth role moving forward after position switch

John Mousinho admitted he’s got plenty to consider when it comes to continuing to get the best out of thriving Manchester City starlet Alex Robertson moving forward.

But the Pompey boss believes that is a scenario to embrace, as his team prepare to enter the busy Christmas period.

Robertson was moved from the holding role in midfield, where he has been in phenomenal form in the top-of-the-table win over Bolton on Monday. Now Mousinho has outlined his thoughts when it comes to accommodating the Aussie for what lies ahead.

When asked if he has much to consider over Robertson’s position, Mousinho said: ‘Definitely, but what we will do is pick teams based on who we think suits those games, in particular.

‘We did that on Monday - and we’ve always had that. Even when we’ve played Robbo as a six, we’ve still had Ben (Stevenson) who gave us the option to move Robbo forward.

‘The squad at the moment are really producing a lot of selection dilemmas in a number of positions. It was a tough one and moving him was a dilemma, but it wasn’t as if we were bringing in someone who didn’t know how to play that position.

‘It was a real luxury to bring Joe Morrell in to influence the game as much as we did. We want to make sure we make the most of Alex’s characteristics and we do feel he can do both jobs, but using him higher up the pitch does give us something different from when he plays as a six.

‘If you look at him and Christian (Saydee) as 10s they are chalk and cheese and have real different dynamics - but that as a coach is a really nice thing to have.’

Although not dominant against Bolton, Mousinho explained Robertson carried out an assignment central to Pompey's success.

He added: ‘I thought Joe and Marlon were excellent on Monday and really controlled the game. Robbo had a slightly different task on his hands. He stopped Sheehan from playing which was excellent, because he really makes them tick. He’s one of the best midfielders at this level.

‘The only thing which didn’t quite come off for Robbo was a couple of moments, especially in the second half, when we had really good opportunities and didn’t quite make the most of them. We know Robbo can do that on his day. We were asking him to play in a slightly different position, but between the three of them I thought the midfield was excellent. I thought we won the battle in there, so credit to all three of them.’