REVEALED: Why fans’ favourite was held back from Portsmouth return after injury hell

Lowery gave all Blues fans a lift with his presence on the bench for Tuesday’s 3-1 success at Fratton Park.

It was the midfielder’s first league involvement since coming off in the win over Peterborough on September 3, as he struggled with an unusual hamstring injury.

Lowery’s only involvement since was an FA Cup return at Hereford in November, when he played against medical advice and suffered a recurrence of the issue.

That had nothing with the former Crewe signing not featuring on Tuesday, with Lowery being readied to be introduced after the break with Paddy Lane.

Ryley Towler’s goal changed the dynamic of the game, leading to Mousinho sitting the pair down again.

Mousinho explained his thinking behind the decision.

He said: ‘I spoke to both of them, they are good guys and they completely understood it.

‘It was a compliment, because they were going to come on to hopefully change the game.

‘In a blink of an eye the game changed when we scored a goal. They were still in my mind to make that substitution, but the goal meant we were on top and there seemed no mileage in making the change.

‘It’s as simple as goals changing games. The momentum we saw building into that free-kick, we were on top and thought we could a bit more in terms of bringing on two creative players - and we thought it would give the crowd a boost as well.

‘The goal naturally gave the crowd a boost, so we didn’t need to do that and sometimes I do just like to wait because goals can do those things.

‘Bolton went 10 yard back and it just changed the dynamic of the game a bit.

‘That was in the forefront of my mind, so I would’ve waited after the goal to have a quick look at how things change.

‘As the game significantly changed, I just thought we had the momentum and were on the front foot - so I didn’t want to disrupt that.’

‘It was nothing to do with Tom or Paddy, it was just about what I saw on the pitch and the momentum we had. Thankfully it paid off.’