John Mousinho has explained why he decided not to start new signing Ibane Bowat in Portsmouth’s match against Sunderland.
The £500,000 transfer from Fulham, the Blues’ 15th and final signing of the transfer window, was named as a substitute for the 3-1 Championship defeat at Fratton Park.
Mousinho opted to stick with the central defensive pairing of Jordan Williams and Ryley Towler, which had performed well in the previous game against Middlesbrough. This decision was influenced by Conor Shaughnessy’s unavailability due to illness, which had kept him out of the trip to the Riverside Stadium.
Bowat was brought in on deadline day to address concerns about the defensive options, as Regan Poole and Tom McIntyre remained sidelined with injuries. However, Mousinho cited Bowat’s limited pre-season action at Fulham as a reason for not starting him. The defender, who spent the previous season on loan at TSV Hartberg in the Austrian Bundesliga, had little time to prepare following his late arrival.
Speaking to BBC Solent after the Sunderland game, Mousinho said: “Ibane had a disrupted pre-season with limited game minutes. There was an understanding that he would be leaving Fulham, so his playing time was affected. He only joined us to train yesterday morning, and such a last-minute arrival meant he wasn’t prepared to start.”
Despite this, Mousinho expressed optimism about Bowat’s potential, highlighting his successful loan spells in European leagues. Bowat will now have two weeks to integrate into the team during the international break. Portsmouth’s next match is against West Brom on September 15, by which time they hope to have several injured players available.
