Ryley Towler: Portsmouth boss explains former Bristol City man's latest Blues set-back

The Pompey head coach said it was purely tactical as he opted for Di’Shon Bernard to start alongside Sean Raggett in the centre of his defence for the game that ended 1-1.

He also named Clark Robertson on the bench, leaving the 20-year-old January arrival having to make do with being 19th man for the trip to Stadium MK.

Di’Shon’s involvement from the start raised a few eyebrows, especially as the on-loan Manchester United defender had featured just once in the past nine games.

In fact, his last start was the 3-1 defeat at Plymouth on February 11, while Robertson was given the nod over both Bernard and Towler for last week’s 1-0 win against Forest Green.

That ended the former Bristol City youngster’s run of 15 consecutive starts for his new side.

But Mousinho said Towler was comfortable with his latest Pompey set-back as he explained the reason behind it.

When asked by BBC Solent whether it was tactical or through injury, the Blues head coach said: ‘That was just selection.

‘The way we wanted to press was really aggressive and we knew that if you allow MK, particularly their two sixes – (Paris) Maghoma and (Josh) McEachran – to control the game then you can be in trouble.

‘So we wanted to make sure that we put pressure on them and (Jonathan) Leko, who we thought was their biggest threat, and it was just one of those where we thought it really suited Di’Shon to come in and man mark him.

‘And I’m pretty sure everyone will agree with me that he did a brilliant job, particularly in the first half when he was left one-v-one.

‘That was the thought behind that. It was probably one of my toughest decisions since I’ve been here, leaving Ryley out of the squad.

‘But he was magnificent with it. I think he understands, particularly now at this stage of the season, that we’re just picking sides to win games and he’s great with that.

‘I think the whole squad are as well. Even dropping Clark, which is not the right phrase, because we didn’t actually drop him, we just changed it.

‘Club captain, kept a clean sheet and we win (against Forest Green) – most people might think “what’s going on?’” But I think, thankfully, that decision to play Di’Shon paid off.’