John Mousinho rues missed chances after Portsmouth concede late equaliser

Posted Sunday, November 12, 2023 by PA

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho rued his side’s wastefulness after his League One table-toppers conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Charlton.

Pompey led twice through goals from Abu Kamara and Colby Bishop’s penalty.

But Alfie May scored the first equaliser before Conor McGrandles struck three minutes into added time to earn the Addicks a point at Fratton Park.

Mousinho said: “The overall emotion is one of disappointment, as we played so well and only came away with a point.

“We had a huge number of chances that we didn’t put away, and we have been undone at the death, which was very disappointing. I think their goalkeeper was man of the match.

“You have to defend your goal throughout the game, and we have been good at that this season, but their goals weren’t spectacular, not goal of the month contenders, and we really have to look at how we can defend them better.”

To make matters worse for Pompey, Mousinho confirmed Regan Poole – who suffered an injury last weekend – would miss the rest of the campaign.

He added: “Regan Poole is out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury.

“It didn’t appear to be bad, but that is a big blow to us.

“Having said that, we have depth in the squad, and Sean and Ryley are excellent players who can come in and do as good a job.”

Kamara had given Pompey a first-half lead with a 20-yard volley, before May equalised with 19 minutes to play.

Bishop put the hosts back ahead from the penalty spot after goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer had clattered into Paddy Lane, but McGrandles had the final say.

Charlton boss Michael Appleton said: “It was one hell of a game. In the first half there wasn’t much between the teams. We caused them more issues than they did us.

“In fairness to Pompey, they upped the ante in the second half.

“We were under a lot of pressure, and from a character and commitment point of view, we did brilliantly to come back twice.

“We knew we had to play well against the team top of the league at their ground.

“We put our bodies on the line when we needed to and earned the right to go up the other end and could have nicked it at the end.

“The heart did sink a little bit after they got their second, but we felt we needed to help the lads a little bit and get fresh legs out there.

“Ashley was superb, although I wish he hadn’t had as much to do.”