John Mousinho ‘to axe Terry Devlin’ after what happened in Portsmouth v Preston
Terry Devlin failed to impress as he filled in for Zak Swanson as Portsmouth were beaten by Preston North End on Saturday.
Pompey at one point appeared to have steered clear of a relegation dogfight in the Championship. However, after crushing back-to-back defeats, John Mousinho’s side could be in trouble again.
The 38-year-old has every right to fume with the Portsmouth players after their performances in the 2-1 defeat to Preston at Deepdale on 15 March.
Regan Poole in particular struggled for Portsmouth at the back. However, he wasn’t the only defender who failed to turn up in Lancashire, with Devlin’s performance leaving much to be desired.
Mousinho needs to axe Devlin for Portsmouth v Blackburn Rovers
Mousinho’s team selection against Preston didn’t impress Portsmouth fans.
One of the standout concerns was the inclusion of Kusini Yengi. However, replacing Swanson with Devlin at right-back was a decision which also appeared to backfire.
Ahead of kick-off, very few supporters were likely to have many concerns about Devlin playing considering his impressive form this season, which could see him rewarded by Northern Ireland.
However, by full-time, it is unlikely that many of those same supporters had a lot of compliments to give the 21-year-old based on his performance at Deepdale.
| Player | Appearances | Starts | Goals | Assists | Clean Sheets | Yellow Cards |
| Terry Devlin | 28 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
As per Sofascore, the youngster was dribbled past three times and won just two of his seven ground duels against Preston. In addition, he completed just 51 per cent of his passes, with none of those key.
He was ineffective in attacking areas too, failing to provide an accurate cross into the box with his one attempt, and succeeding with zero per cent of his attempted dribbles, while also losing possession 27 times.
As a result, Mousinho is unlikely to make this same mistake against Blackburn Rovers in the Championship at Fratton Park on Saturday 29 March, and will likely axe Devlin from the starting lineup.
Swanson needs to start for Portsmouth v Blackburn
Swanson has been the go-to right-back in recent months at Fratton Park.
He was left on the bench against Preston. However, he is likely to come straight back in against Blackburn. Devlin has impressed all over the place for Portsmouth this season.
However, playing at right-back against Preston, he failed to turn up.