John Mousinho makes frank Portsmouth assessment as Sheffield Wednesday register ‘deserved’ win

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Portsmouth were beaten 2-0 by an energised Sheffield Wednesday side on Saturday afternoon, as the Owls picked up their first victory of the season at Fratton Park.

Goals from Barry Bannan and George Brown ensured that all three points headed back to South Yorkshire, but Henrik Pedersen still has one issue to contend with at Hillsborough, his lack of depth on the bench.

Nevertheless, it was a pivotal moment for Sheffield Wednesday and their fans travelled back to S6 delighted with an excellent performance and a well-earned win.

However, for Portsmouth there was one factor that John Mousinho was not happy with as his team prepared for the game.

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John Mousinho left frustrated with how Portsmouth prepared for Sheffield Wednesday game

It’s been a tough campaign so far for Sheffield Wednesday, and many expected that to continue at Fratton Park, with Pompey starting the new season well.

However, they were out-battled by the visitors and the Owls were more than worth the victory in Hampshire, with Mousinho pointing out one problem.

He said (via: The Star): “It was a really, really poor result, we got what we deserved and Sheffield Wednesday were far better than us. They outfought us, outran us, out-competed, were better on the ball, more clinical and made better decisions in every department. All of those things add up to a 2-0 loss.

“It’s really difficult to put your finger on it, particularly after the positive performances in the first five games and the extremely positive performance last week when everybody came off the pitch thinking we had made a massive step forward.

“There are really concerning signs, though. You look at today and there’s a lot of complacency which has crept into the group, thinking this was going to be a much more straightforward game than the others. You try to protect against that, we spoke all week about how unlucky Sheffield Wednesday had been. Yet the complacency is there and the fact we started the game so poorly and made awful decisions.

“I genuinely thought this group had turned the corner in terms of putting in those sort of performances, it has happened previously but to happen today – after being so solid and so impressive for the majority of the game this season – is disappointing.”

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Sheffield Wednesday will use this confidence in the coming weeks

Portsmouth know they cannot afford to drop points to teams like Sheffield Wednesday going forward, with the Blues hoping to avoid any sort of relegation battle by the time May comes around.

However, for the Owls, it was the perfect away performance and they showed the rest of the Championship exactly what damage they can do when given the chance.

Resiliency will be key for Pedersen’s side, and while off-field issues continue to plague them, the players and staff have the full backing of those in the stands.

More protests are planned in the coming weeks for Sheffield Wednesday, but if those on the pitch can continue this momentum, then the fans may have some renewed hope for the future.