‘We didn't come out agreeing' - Portsmouth boss reveals details of meeting with Rebecca Welch and Kevin Friend after controversial draw at Derby

The Blues head coach said he registered his dissatisfaction with the match official’s performance at Pride Park – in front of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) official Kevin Friend.

Mousinho revealed the conversation was ‘polite’ and ‘orderly’. But he left without agreeing with any explanation put to him following an eventful game at Pride Park.

The Pompey boss was incensed by Welch’s decision to award the Rams a 85th-minute penalty after a cross-field ball into the box ricocheted off Regan Poole’s thigh before hitting his arm. Yet things had already reached boiling point before that controversial call, with Mousinho infuriated by the referee’s leniency towards Tyrese Fornah’s foul on Colby Bishop – a tackle he felt warranted a red card. Derby’s handling of Bishop in general was also brought up, as was the decision not to book Conor Hourihane after he pulled back Alex Robertson in the first half.

A ‘furious’ Mousinho shared his thoughts on the above incidents with The News immediately after the final whistle on Saturday.

But 48 hours on from the game, the 37-year-old conceded he remains just as bewildered by the decisions – even after his post-match meeting with Welch and Friend.

Mousinho said: ‘I watched it (the game) back Sunday morning in a very, very different emotional state.

‘But I still feel exactly the same way as I felt after the game Saturday. I wouldn’t change anything about what I said.

‘I made those sort of judgements in real time. I, of course, also had the benefit of looking at the video very quickly at half-time and full-time, but nothing changed my mind.

‘I waited half an hour after the game to knock on the door (of Welch’s changing room). The referee’s are always very good and very accommodating. They don’t mind feedback at all and they don’t mind head coaches and managers going in to speak to them – I’ve done that a handful of times.

‘I’ve done it after wins, draws, loses, whatever it is, I’ve made sure I’ve just been consistent.

‘So, yeah, I knocked on the door after the game and had a good discussion with Rebecca and her team. Kevin Friend was there supporting her so it was good to have someone of that stature to sort of sit in and listen to everything.

‘I suppose I made my dissatisfaction with some of the decisions known in a polite and orderly way – and, yeah, we had a conversation.

‘We didn’t come out agreeing, but that’s the way football is.’

When asked if he was satisfied with the reasons given for each decision, he added: ‘I was satisfied with the (penalty) explanation, I just don’t agree with it.

‘That’s what football’s about. It’s a subjective game.

‘I can understand the penalty decision and why it’s been given. The ones I really homed in on where some of the yellow cards that I thought were (questionable).

‘Conor Hourihane’s ended up not really changing the game because he came off at half-time but Tyrese is the one for me that gets worse the more I see it and I still can’t quite get my head around why that wasn’t given.

‘It was all compounded by the fact Marlon Pack was booked earlier for what I thought was a much-lesser tackle. I thought he was much more in control.

‘Again, football is subjective, it is a bout opinions and I get it that it’s really difficult to referee. That’s why I go in and speak about these things and give my side of it so they’ve got scope to at least hear what I’ve got to say.’