Mousinho’s ref blast after key decision denies ‘brave’ Portsmouth victory at Derby County
But the Pompey boss has praise for his players for their performance, as they rescued a point late on to extend their unbeaten league run to 18 games.
Mousinho has words of criticism for referee Rebecca Welch and her display at Pride Park, after she gave a penalty against Regan Poole handball near the end of normal time.
Colby Bishop cancelled out James Collins’ spot-kick five minutes into stoppage time to give Pompey a richly deserved draw against Paul Warne’s side.
Mousinho celebrated the late goal, but in reflection felt his side maybe deserved a greater reward.
He said: ‘I was furious when the penalty was given. I thought it was the accumulation of a number of bizarre decisions through the afternoon.
‘Can I understand why the penalty was given? Maybe, but it comes off Regan’s knee and unless he cuts his arms off I’m not sure what he’s supposed to do there. He’s trying to defend.
‘To get back into the game after that penalty, I was thrilled.
‘The boys could have used every excuse in the book, saying we were unlucky having played so well not to come away from Pride Park with anything.
‘The feeling when we scored was elation, but having settled down we maybe slightly rue the fact we didn’t come away with three points.’
In a stiff test of their credentials, Pompey looked the better side for long periods and played some decent football against the fancied Rams.
Mousinho felt he could see the marked progress from his team after the same result when the teams met at Pride Park in April.
He said: ‘If you contrast the two performances here. We played okay last time but were hanging on.
‘Here, I felt we were the better side without being good enough at certain things we did.
‘We were a bit sloppy in terms of our possession at times, but created the better chances.
‘In the second half I didn’t have too much criticism of the lads whatsoever – I thought we were really good.
‘We created chances, good on the break and brave on the ball.
‘The only thing we didn’t do was put the ball in the back of the net.
‘We didn’t have a shed load of chances, but created enough to go ahead.
‘So I’m really pleased with what I saw and we fully deserved a point.’
Portsmouth goal hero on why the Blues are this season better equipped for League One promotion after late Derby drama
The striker turned home Terry Devlin’s pass in the fifth minute of time added-on to claim a dramatic point in a 1-1 draw at Derby.
The Blues had been trailing to James Collins’ disputed 85th-minute penalty in a match Bishop felt they deserved something from.
Then the former Rams apprentice swooped at the death, preserving sixth-placed Pompey’s 18 matches undefeated in League One.
And he is adamant John Mousinho’s squad is more equipped for promotion compared to last season.
He told The News: ‘100 per cent we’re a better team than last season.
‘We were talking about that in the changing room afterwards, it feels like a different confidence on the pitch.
‘It’s different players, the gaffer’s had more time to work on the patterns that we use, and it seems like we are getting more comfortable with it.
‘All the new players have impressed me, they are here for a reason. I think we have so much going forward and the boys that have come in at the back have been absolutely amazing.
‘We have a very good squad this year. It’s the way we play, we have more dynamic players.
‘When a new manager comes in sometimes it takes time to get what they want, you have to keep working on it and working on it and it seems that we are getting there now.
‘The manager made an impact when he came in last season, but the more you work with someone, the more you understand what they want and the more they understand what you want.
‘It has worked and now feels like a new confidence on the pitch.’
Bishop’s leveller represents his fourth goal in nine appearances this term as he maintains his impressive goal-scoring record.
And, on this occasion, he felt a point was no less than his team-mates deserved.
He added: We played really well.
‘Obviously they are going to have moments when they dominate the game, but we probably dominated it more than them throughout the whole game.
‘We deserved something at least.’
