Why Gareth Evans was brought in from the cold as Portsmouth closed in on promotion spots against Shrewsbury

The Blues’ attacking midfielder came in from the cold against Shrewsbury with his first league start since his man-of-the-match performance at Gillingham on New Year’s Day.

Evans hasn’t seen a minute’s league action since as he’s had to settle for a couple of EFL Trophy starts, with Kenny Jackett looking elsewhere.

The 31-year-old was used in a central attacking role behind Ellis Harrison as Pompey returned to a 4-2-3-1 formation after utilising a 4-1-4-1 set-up at Coventry.

And Gallen explained that move was a result of Jackett looking for his side to serve up more attacking threat against the Shrews.

He said: ‘He hasn’t started in the league since Gillingham when he scored.

‘When Gareth Evans got the nod we were thinking his ability to get get shots in, right foot and left foot, and some crosses because he tends to veer to the right.

‘We were looking for more shots, which the manager alluded to in his pre-match interviews. We wanted more shots and more crosses.

‘When you pick Gareth Evans he brings more shots and crosses. That was the thinking behind that one.’

Evans was one of three changes from the Coventry loss which brought a close to Pompey’s nine-match winning run.

Harrison was favoured over John Marquis while Marcus Harness came in for his first league start since the 1-0 success at Bolton a month ago.

Gallen added: ‘Ellis started up front and we have two very good number nines in him and John.

‘Then it was Marcus over Ryan. They are both just very good players.

‘There’s a lot of good battles going on and there’s players like Jack Whatmough, Lee Brown and Oli Hawkins not playing.

‘There’s plenty of battles and luckily everyone is fit. If that continues that will help us.

‘The only thing which was different really was playing with an out-and-out 10 in Gareth and two holding players in Tom and Cameron.

‘Maybe we can swivel that around at times, but other than that it’s seamless for players coming in and changing things a bit.

‘We can change the team a bit with Marcus coming in and Gareth coming in.

‘It’s seamless because we’re very consistent in our process and what we’re trying to achieve.’