John Mousinho must put trust in only Portsmouth shining light after Sheffield Wednesday collapse
Portsmouth put in their worst performance of the season on Saturday, losing 2-0 at home to crisis club Sheffield Wednesday.
John Mousinho’s side barely got out of first gear at Fratton Park as goals from Barry Bannan and George Brown sent them to a morale-draining defeat.
Portsmouth were heavy favourites to win the match, mostly due to a host of Sheffield Wednesday stars terminating their contracts over the summer, but they were deservedly beaten by the visitors.
The defeat has left many Portsmouth fans worried about the difficult run of upcoming fixtures, particularly as injuries begin to mount up among the first team squad.
John Mousinho praises Luke Le Roux’s contribution against Sheffield Wednesday
Mousinho has claimed that he could have made 11 substitutions at half-time, such was the lack of quality against Sheffield Wednesday.
He made two changes, bringing on Luke Le Roux and Josh Knight, who were arguably Portsmouth’s best performers.
In an interview with The News, Mousinho singled out Le Roux’s performance as one of the game’s silver linings.
He said: “There are some good things we saw in there. I think the biggest positive was Luke Le Roux coming on in the second half and doing as well as he did.”
Portsmouth fans have been calling for Le Roux to start for a while now, and these comments suggest he may get his chance in next Saturday’s game at Ipswich.
Luke Le Roux must surely be given a chance against Ipswich
Le Roux replaced John Swift on Saturday and was far more efficient on the ball than any other Portsmouth midfielder.
While Swift was slow to move the ball forward and gave it away frequently, Le Roux was far more urgent and assured in possession.
He must be given the chance to show what he can do from the start of a game.
| Date | Opponent |
| 27 September | Ipswich (A) |
| 1 October | Watford (H) |
| 4 October | Middlesbrough (H) |
| 18 October | Leicester (A) |
If Le Roux does start against Ipswich, it may not be Swift that makes way for him. Conor Chaplin is unavailable to play against his parent club, so Swift may be pushed forward into the number 10 role for this game.
The other option is to play Adrian Segecic just behind the striker, but there are currently no obvious candidates to replace him on the right wing.
Portsmouth fans will be praying that Josh Murphy is fit enough to return, as the Blues looked toothless in attack without him last weekend.
Either way, Mousinho must place his trust in Le Roux now.
Enjoyed this article? Stay connected with all the latest Portsmouth news, updates, and behind-the-scenes content by following us on our new Instagram account – @pompeynews247