‘Performance was below par, but it could be forgiven’
John Mousinho was frustrated with what he saw from his players as they zeroed in on promotion with a ‘below par’ victory over Shrewsbury.
The Blues picked up an ultimately comfortable success over Paul Hurst’s side, but were short of their fluent best in front of a crowd of 20,081.
Pompey let the visitors back into the game once in the first half, and flirted with doing the same after the restart at times.
Nevertheless, the Blues still collected a 14th home league win this season and stretched their unbeaten third tier run to 15 games with a 3-1 success.
In all, Pompey have won 11 and drawn four of those games – and one of the draws was after Oxford scored a 90th minute leveller!
Mousinho felt there was hangover from Tuesday’s top-of-the-table showdown with Derby, but didn’t want to be too critical of his players in the circumstances.
He said: ‘It was frustrating for large parts of the game, but getting the third goal just calmed everybody’s nerves and gave us a buffer.
‘You never know in these games when you have only a goal and haven’t put sides away.
‘Anything can happen, whether it’s a fast break, set-piece or refereeing error. You have to put these games to bed. So I thought the third goal made it more comfortable.
‘Overall I thought the performance was belowpar but could be forgiven, considering the week the lads had.
‘I think the emotion of Tuesday night and everything that went with it had taken a bit out of the boys physically.
‘Sometimes you are going to come up against sides like these who are good and will make it difficult for us.
‘They are a very good side. They’ve got themselves well drilled, so just pleased to get the result.’
Pompey now have a week to build up to the exciting trip to Bolton, where three points will seal a return to the Championship for the first time in 12 years.
Mousinho added: ‘There’s plenty to look at and improve upon, especially going to Bolton next week, but at this stage of the season - the sharp end of the season - it’s results.
‘We just have to focus on getting results.’