John Mousinho hailed Will Norris as “outstanding” after his crucial save against Lincoln.
Goals from Paddy Lane and Regan Poole gave Pompey a 2-1 lead over the Imps after eight minutes of injury time.
However, they had a scare when Paudie O’Connor got a free header at the far post to equalize.
Remar kably, Norris managed a direct attack to keep the centre-back at bay, securing three points for the League One leaders.
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And at the end of a week in which the former Burnley man gifted Barnsley a goal on Tuesday night, it was a timely reminder of his talent. Mousinho told The News:
“I thought we controlled things well and we played really well, just towards the end we were a bit weak.
“If you take the chance Lincoln had at the end, I thought it would have been really, really tough for us not to win the game – but you can’t pass up those chances.”
A set piece, a long ball into the box, the ball falls off the edge and if he puts it in the net we will regret not seeing the game well.
Will Norris made a crucial save in stoppage time to deny Lincoln’s Paudie O’Connor a dramatic equalizer.
Will has been excellent since he arrived, and not just in his distribution.
He hasn’t been called into action much yet, but when he has been, he’s made those saves.
“He’s aggressive from the foul line and makes sure he tries to dominate whenever he can, which is brilliant.
If sometimes he’s aggressive and drops the ball, I don’t care, he’s going to save us a lot more.”I didn’t speak to Will after Barnsley’s second goal, to be honest he was very good and goalkeepers are always disappointed with the goals they concede.
“I just can’t think of any goals I can talk to Will Norris about. He’s done an absolutely excellent job, he’s a breath of fresh air and he does so much for the team.
“Everyone makes mistakes, goalkeepers get punished when they make mistakes, that’s one of the unfortunate things, but our players make more mistakes than Will.
“The win puts the Blues a point clear of Oxford United at the top of the table, although their rivals still have a game in hand.
And Mousinho felt that his team deserved the last victory.
Head ded: “When you have so much possession – which we thought we had – and Lincoln was created to frustrate us, you have to concentrate.
You need to make sure you’re on when you have the ball and the transition is correct.
“Performance-wise, I really thought it was very professional and we completely dominated him and controlled big plays.”
