John Mousinho off the loss of two late points – and admitted Middlesbrough deserved to have beaten Pompey.
Tommy Conway’s 90th-minute penalty denied the Blues a 2-1 victory, as the visitors’ formidable back-line ultimately crumbled under enormous strain.
Christian Saydee’s first-half double kept Pompey ahead for 65 minutes, but a tenacious Boro broke the deadlock at the death for a 2-2 tie.
However, Mousinho was pleased with a point rather than furious at giving up victory so late in the game.
He told The News: ‘As it drew closer to 90 minutes, we felt we would be able to hang in there, but we let up a few too many chances, one of which resulted in a penalty.
‘On balance, Middlesbrough deserved to win the game, therefore a point is a really good outcome.
‘They did not punish us for the opportunities they provided. It’s a really fascinating one because I believe if the game had ended 2-2 early in the second half, we would have adjusted our mindset and played a little better than we did.
‘We sat in, sat in, and sat in, getting away with a few minor details here and there. Will (Norris) dragged us out of a couple of holes, and there was some excellent last-ditch defending, but I believe the mindset would have altered if we had conceded the second.
‘Last ditch, we defended pretty well, but there are definitely things we can do better further up the pitch. We invited a little too much pressure, were a little too deep, and enabled Middlesbrough to play a little too centrally at times.
‘There is plenty of room for improvement. I don’t mind conceding a goal or an opportunity after really fantastic play, and Middlesbrough had plenty of good play today, but there were times when we could have just been better.
The Blues were missing Conor Shaughnessy (illness) and Sammy Silvera (ineligible against his parent club).
Jordan Williams joined Ryley Towler in the heart of defence, while Zak Swanson started at right-back.
Mousinho continued, “We were massively patched up.” If you consider where we would have loved to be at the start of the season, losing Conor Shaughnessy late was a significant setback.
‘Jordan (Williams) came in at centre-half and performed admirably, not to mention Zak Swanson, who made his first Championship start of the season and was excellent at right-back.
‘Overall, when you consider all of those factors, we can be very delighted.’
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