John Mousinho: Fratton End inspiration was behind my maiden Portsmouth win in 2-0 success against Exeter

Having been appointed on Friday as Danny Cowley’s replacement and overseen just one training session, the 36-year-old savoured instant success with a 2-0 win over Exeter.

Marlon Pack and Joe Morrell were the scorers, with both goals arriving during a much-improved second-half display.

Indeed the Blues were unrecognisable from their opening 45 minutes when they had to rely on two stunning saves from debutant Matt Macey for keep the Grecians at bay.

And Mousinho is convinced the key difference behind Pompey’s second-half display was simple – attacking the Fratton End.

He told The News: ‘So what changed in the second half?

‘One thing I think will change a lot when you are playing at Fratton Park is we kicked into the Fratton End, believe it or not

‘It’s a massive advantage if you get on the front foot and if you keep them pinned in and if you keep going and going and going.

‘Obviously we are not going to be able to rely on that for 90 minutes every week, so we have to figure out how we get going in the first half as well.

‘We also got runners from midfield stretching beyond, which really helped, Joe (Morrell) in particular.

‘Colby had a great battle with Cheick Diabete all day and probably just started to get the better of that in the second half as well – then it was just a bit of confidence and momentum.

‘The guys in there at half-time knew what needed to be done, they said it first and recognised that and they deserved it because the first half was a graft, they had to defend nine corners and did it very well.’

In terms of League One, it was a first home win since defeating Peterborough on September 3.

And Mousinho was quick to pinpoint the players’ work-rate as the driving force behind their success.

He added: ‘That performance was defined by a lot of work from the lads, especially in the second half when the work-rate stepped up and up and up.

‘Even when we went 2-0 up, we kept on the front foot and kept pressing, which is really difficult to do, and then to combine that with a bit of quality on the other side, that’s the key.

‘In the second half there wasn’t a huge amount we changed, a couple of tweaks, but really it was to make sure that we continued to get on the front foot, 10 yards higher.

‘Exeter’s system caused us a couple of problems with the two 10s and they probably have one of the best front threes in the league, being interchangeable in terms of who can play where.’