Portsmouth boss John Mousinho has revealed why Blackburn Rovers' match was postponed.

Referee Farai Hallam conducted a pitch inspection at 11am and despite both bosses wanting the game to go ahead, it was called off. That meant a long trip back to the South Coast for Pompey and their supporters, who had 2,000 travelling down to Ewood Park.

Many away fans criticised the decision with other local games such as Preston North End and Bolton Wanderers going ahead. But Mousinho conceded that there was little more Rovers could've to get the game on.

The issues were in the centre of the pitch where water was pooling. Given the weather forecast indicating that conditions would worsen, the pitch didn't have the opportunity to drain sufficiently.

The Portsmouth boss revealed how the process worked and that he and Eustace were desperate to play. In the end, he admitted it was 'unplayable'.
"We were gutted it’s not on," Mousinho said.

"I got a call at 10.15am saying get yourself to the ground as quickly as possible, that was the first I heard of it.

"I got down there for 11am and was on the pitch with the referee, groundsman and John Eustace. Unfortunately, the referee decided to call it then.

"If you looked at the pitch from the side it looked absolutely fine and 90 per cent of the pitch was good. The issue was right in the middle of the pitch where there was gathering water.

"They’d verti-drained it and done all they could to get rid of the water, but it wasn’t shifting.

"At that point, it was forecasted for rain until 4pm and it was going to take half an hour’s worth of clearing for it to drain completely, but unfortunately with the forecast, there was no hope of that happening.

"Both myself and John said we were desperate to get the game on, but it didn’t affect anything and the referee said he had to report it back anyway. Unfortunately in those unplayable conditions, there’s not a lot you can do."

The one positive for both clubs is they were granted extra rest ahead of the midweek slate of fixtures. Rovers travel to Middlesbrough whilst Portsmouth host Millwall.

‘‘It was so frustrating for the travelling fans and I know a huge amount had made their way up," Mousinho added.

"So there’s a big shout out to them for us, because we know it’s one hell of an effort from them for absolutely nothing. It’s a massive week and we felt it was a massive week anyway.

"We have to take a silver lining in that Millwall’s game has gone ahead and they have to then travel to Portsmouth and we should be relatively fresh.

"It’s something we have to contend with and we’re looking forward to the game on Wednesday night - and then we go again on Saturday up at Swansea."