The Blues were trailing Wycombe with 32 minutes remaining, but turned the game around to win 2-1 at Fratton Park.
Conor Shaughnessy headed home Jack Sparkes’ right-wing corner in the eighth minute of added time to give the game a thrilling finish.
It was another big League One scalp for Mousinho in the last four weeks, joining Peterborough, Barnsley, and Wigan.
And he believes his players are finally accepting their abilities – and Pompey’s potential.
‘I think Wycombe are a terrific team, they will challenge in the top six this year with some really talented players,’ said the Blues’ head coach to The News.
‘Wigan were also fairly impressive at the weekend, as were several of the teams we’ve played recently, including your Barnsleys, Derbys, and Peterboroughs.’Although the league does not have the Sheffield Wednesdays and Ipswich Town, it does contain a large number of clubs that can compete with each other, as we have seen this season.
‘Most importantly, this new result indicates that we are beginning to believe in ourselves a little more.
‘If I think back to the beginning of last month and the Peterborough game, I thought we were fantastic.
‘We were okay in the first half against Derby, we were in the game, and at half-time I implored the players to believe in themselves as much as we do as a staff – we just think they are wonderful.’Alex Robertson was a significant standout in the first half against Derby, and his second-half performance was chalk and cheese. Then, looking at what he did against Wycombe, that’s what we’re trying to instill in the players.
‘You know you have that potential, go and play, show us what you show us in training every day. The players have begun to listen to us, and things are coming together.
‘The most important thing is that we take a lot of the belief, but then say, “Right, we’ve got another very, very tough test on Saturday.” We have to pick ourselves up, go back out there, and get back to work on the training field.”‘
With Oxford United beating 10-man Shrewsbury 3-0, Pompey would have lost top spot with a point.
As it transpired, the triumph at the death kept their one-point lead over the U’s after 11 League One games.
‘That was an added bonus,’ he continued. We have no control over other people’s outcomes, but we do have power over our own.
‘You can’t always ensure that you’ll win games, but you can manage your own performance, effort, and work-rate – and we did that.
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