John Mousinho was pleased with Portsmouth’s 1-1 draw at Bolton despite the leaders’ bid for promotion and the Sky Bet League One title put on hold.

Abu Kamara’s seventh-minute goal put the visitors in front, but Aaron Collins’ fifth goal in three games after 36 minutes ensured Pompey need a point against Barnsley at Fratton Park on Tuesday to reach the Championship.

“It keeps Bolton at arm’s length which was an important thing for us to do,” said manager Mousinho.

“We came here for the win and during the game we made substitutions to try and win it. I think though on balance, Bolton probably deserved to win it.

“I was displeased how we reacted to going a goal up. I thought we were poor.

“We made some poor decisions, slashed at a few clearances and didn’t do enough to track runners.

“It took Bolton equalising for us to click back into gear and decide we wanted to play and be more recognisable.

“We regrouped at half-time and it was a much better performance in the second half. Hopefully, now we can get the job done on Tuesday.

“There was talk in the week whether it was better to go and do it at Fratton. But we were desperate to try and get the job done here.

“Obviously we couldn’t, but going back to Fratton with the opportunity to do it in front of the long-suffering home fans and needing a point will be a fantastic occasion.”

Bolton have three games remaining, but need a slip up by Derby in order to gain automatic promotion.

Collins’ header from Nat Ogbeta’s cross after 36 minutes was his seventh since joining the club.

The Trotters could easily have become only the fifth side to beat Portsmouth this season.

Instead, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson missed an easy second-half chance, while substitute Dion Charles hit the post late on.

“It is frustrating but it hard to be too critical of the players,” said manager Ian Evatt.

“Portsmouth are top of the league for a reason and bar the first seven to 10 minutes where we conceded a poor goal in transition to their most dangerous player, I thought we dominated.

“We had opportunities to win, missed a couple of big opportunities and had 19 shots to their five.

“When you watch a game you get a feel for who is the most dominant team and then the data backs it up. That was the case.

“It was a good performance and we deserved more. Now we have to pick everyone up because we haven’t lost it.

“There can be turns left, right and centre. So, the most important for us is to win the game on Tuesday (at home to Shrewsbury) and get it back to a point (on Derby).

“But we have to pick the players up because they are disappointed. They know we should have won the game. But now is not the time to be feeling sorry for ourselves.”

Aaron Collins’ latest Bolton goal earned a 1-1 draw to ensure Portsmouth’s Sky Bet League One title and promotion celebrations remain on ice.

Pompey were heading back to the Championship for the first time in 12 years when Abu Kamara scored a classy seventh-minute opener.

But Wanderers kept alive their own hopes of promotion to the second tier without need of the play-offs nine minutes before half-time.

Nat Ogbeta had not distinguished himself when Kamara raced beyond him to score with a low left-footed finish.

However, the former Manchester City prospect provided the assist for Collins to head in for a fifth goal in three games and his seventh since signing from Bristol Rovers.

It was nothing more than Ian Evatt’s side deserved in front of the club’s highest ever third tier attendance of 25,738.

Collins was denied a second by goalkeeper Will Norris in first-half stoppage time with Jon Dadi Bodvarsson unable to convert the rebound.

Bodvarsson missed a great chance to win it for Bolton after 69 minutes, while substitute and leading scorer Dion Charles hit the post three minutes from time.

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho was relieved to see his side take a point from their top-of-the-table clash at home to nearest challengers Derby after twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 at Fratton Park.

Substitute Owen Moxon’s 25-yard screamer 13 minutes from time ensured the League One leaders took a share of the spoils to move a step closer to sealing promotion to the Championship.

Mousinho said: “Having gone behind twice it always feels like a decent enough point.

“I just think overall we probably had enough of it but did not dominate the ball enough, but I thought on the whole, it was pretty good performance against a really good side so we will take the point and move on.

“We’ve just got to follow it up with a win at the weekend (against Shrewsbury).

“Derby sat in and they made it difficult for us, were really tough for us to break down and they countered us with pace. You have to deal with that and I didn’t think we dealt with it brilliantly.

“The first goal was a brilliant move and probably the first time we’ve properly moved it from side to side. I was really pleased with both goals; two very different goals because one was about a team move and the other one was a brilliant strike from the edge of the box.”

Derby went in front in the 23rd minute when the unmarked Joe Ward drove the ball beyond home goalkeeper Will Norris following a quick counter.

The lead only lasted four minutes as Colby Bishop flicked a delightful ball through for Abu Kamara to confidently slot home.

The Rams regained the lead 10 minutes before half-time as Ward’s effort from outside the box took a deflection before finding the corner.

In the 77th minute substitute Moxon latched onto a loose ball and thrashed the ball beyond Joe Wildsmith from distance to draw the hosts level.

The result keeps Pompey five points clear of Derby with five games to play, with third-placed Bolton a further four behind the Rams.

Derby boss Paul Warne said: “I’m not too frustrated at the point.

“If you had told me before the game we would come away with a point, I would have taken that. But it is disappointing to lead twice and not win.

“We’ve played a motivated, highly fit, confident, and well-organised side. The league table shows you that.

“We scored two goals and thought that it was enough to win the game, but we’ve conceded to a screamer which is disappointing as Joe (Wildsmith) hasn’t had a lot to do tonight.

“I think they’ve run out of ideas, which is why they’ve had to attempt shots from 30 yards. The players have worked so hard and I’m proud of them.”

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho praised two-goal hero Kusini Yengi after a 2-1 win over Burton retained their lead at the top of League One.

The victory moved leaders Pompey five points clear of second-placed Derby and six in front of Bolton in third.

Mousinho said: “It was a good result. It would be a shame to dwell on the last 10 minutes, because I thought we were excellent in those previous 80 minutes.

“But I said to the players at the end that we need to put games to bed because not doing so allowed them back into the game. Burton changed their shape and personnel which caused us problems at the end.

“We changed shape tonight because of player availability, and I thought it worked well with some good football. We played Kusini because we have options up front, and Colby Bishop has had a heavy workload.

“And, like tonight, he can score goals.”

Albion had the first effort at goal, with Rekeem Harper rattling the Pompey bar in the first minute.

Pompey found life difficult in the final third, but had a superb chance after 37 minutes when Yengi somehow shot wide of an open goal from two yards.

But he made amends in added time, when after having been brought down in the area, got up to score the penalty.

Pompey kept the pressure on in the second half, and despite Abu Kamara blasting high over the bar in the 57th minute, Yengi scored his second six minutes later when he tapped in from a hard low Kamara cross.

Burton pulled one back after 80 minutes when captain John Brayford fired home.

Albion boss Martin Paterson said: “We played a very good team tonight. One that can find holes in defences, so the team did tremendously well.

“My etiquette has always been to not discuss officials, but tonight that changes. The equilibrium of decisions and actions against my football club was not the same as theirs.

“I respect the decision for their penalty, but when my players put in the kind of effort they have tonight, and have an even better penalty shout turned down, it’s difficult not to say something.

“In the second half we made substitutions, changed shape, and scored a good goal.

“It’s totally unfair to my players not to have got a point out of the game. I was really proud of them tonight. We had them on the rack in the last 10 minutes, and the last two games we have been excellent.

“I think we will kick on from this having been denied.”

Kusini Yengi’s double saw Portsmouth take another step closer to the Championship with a 2-1 win against Burton.

The victory moved leaders Pompey five points clear of second-placed Derby and six in front of Bolton in third.

Although Pompey dominated most of the first half, Burton had opportunities without troubling Will Norris.

Albion had the first effort at goal, with Rekeem Harper rattling the Pompey bar in the first minute.

Pompey found life difficult in the final third, but had a superb chance after 37 minutes when Yengi somehow shot wide of an open goal from two yards.

But he made amends in added time, when after having been brought down in the area, got up to score the penalty.

Pompey kept the pressure on in the second half, and despite Abu Kamara blasting high over the bar in the 57th minute, Yengi scored his second six minutes later when he tapped in from a hard low Kamara cross.

Burton pulled one back after 80 minutes when captain John Brayford fired home.

Colby Bishop’s 16th goal of the season helped Portsmouth complete a 4-1 rout of hapless Reading at Fratton Park.

The Royals dominated the first 25 minutes and had several chances to open the scoring, with efforts from Andy Yiadom on 11 minutes and Lewis Wing a minute later.

But it was Paul Mukairu who had the simplest chance, putting the ball over the bar from inside the six-yard box.

The league leaders took the lead on 36 minutes as Abu Kamara broke down the middle and passed to Paddy Lane, who rifled the ball home off keeper David Button’s body.

Pompey doubled their lead four minutes into the second half when Marlon Pack drove home, and it soon became 3-0 on 58 minutes with an identical strike from Callum Lang.

Pompey made it four thanks to Bishop’s strike but the Royals got a consolation late on from Charlie Savage.

John Mousinho saluted goalscoring heroes Myles Peart-Harris and Abu Kamara as League One leaders Portsmouth came from behind to beat Cambridge 3-1.

Kusini Yengi won and converted a penalty to cancel out Danny Andrew’s opener, before Peart-Harris – signed on loan from Brentford in January – and Kamara scored in the second half to earn the points before Yengi gave way to top scorer Colby Bishop.

Mousinho said: “Obviously happy with the win. We seemed to lose our shape for the first half-hour, and to be fair I thought Cambridge deserved the lead because of how poor we had been.

“It seemed to kick us into life and up until half-time we were much better, and it was important that we pulled that goal back before then.

“We were excellent in the second half, and it was satisfying to see the two goals. It was great to see Myles get his first, and Abu just keeps growing in confidence.

“Kusini was excellent having come in after being away with Australia, and it shows what we can do even with your top scorer on the bench.”

The one sour note for Mousinho was an injury to midfielder Tom Lowery, who was forced off before half-time.

“Tom Lowery has felt his hamstring, and it doesn’t look good,” said Mousinho. “It was decided he was ready to start a game, and I take responsibility for making that decision. We’re all gutted for him.”

The opening half-hour saw Pompey dominate but Cambridge’s confidence grew, and they were rewarded with the opener after 38 minutes. A corner was headed goalwards by Andrew and Will Norris could not keep the ball out.

That seemed to spring Pompey into life, and within six minutes the hosts had equalised. Yengi was brought down in the box and dusted himself down to send the goalkeeper the wrong way.

Cambridge started out the better side in the second half, with Pompey struggling to get any fluency.

But after 59 minutes they found their spark and went ahead as good build-up play saw Peart-Harris slide in to score from a Paddy Lane cross.

Cambridge pushed hard for an equaliser but Pompey got a third after 71 minutes when Kamara smashed home via the crossbar.

Cambridge boss Neil Harris said: “I was very pleased with our performance. I thought we were excellent until their second went in. We had a plan, and we were very good on the transition.

“We got ourselves in front with a well-worked corner, and we needed to keep that lead until half-time against the top team in the league in front of a near sell-out crowd but unfortunately, we conceded the penalty.

“We started the second half well and had a couple of chances, but then you get punished. I asked for a reaction to the home defeat on Saturday, and I got that. But if you don’t put your chances away, then you get punished, so we must be more clinical.

“We go to Carlisle on Saturday and it will be the same squad travelling. We must make sure that it’s not three losses on the bounce.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho hailed his side’s 1-0 win at struggling Fleetwood as one of the best of their season.

Pompey stayed at the Sky Bet League One summit thanks to Abu Kamara’s eye-catching striker midway through the first half.

After back-to-back defeats Mousinho admitted it was a welcome win for Pompey, although he would have preferred his side to be more clinical when they are dominating.

He said: “It feels like, and it felt before the game, that it would be up there with the most important and best wins of the season. Especially with all the circumstances – coming into the game off the back of a really poor performance, tough conditions, a tough pitch, to win the game was the most important thing.

“But I think the two sides of the performance, some really good football in the first half followed by that dogged determination to keep the ball out of our net in the second half, it shows we’ve got both sides of the game.

“I felt we were really in control in the first half, we kept the ball for the majority of it. It felt frustrating that we didn’t open them up more but you’re not always going to be able to do that because Fleetwood were working so hard.

“Our plan was that if we kept moving the ball and made it difficult for them something would open up, and a few times it did open up.

“When it does that’s probably the area where we’ve been lacking in the past few weeks, that bit of quality in the final third. But when you’ve got players like Abu Kamara on the pitch we want to see a bit more of that, because he’s got that in his locker.”

Fleetwood’s defeat means new boss Charlie Adam is still awaiting his first point since taking over at Highbury.

Although they prop up the rest of the division, the manager is desperate to see more performances like their second-half show against Pompey.

He explained: “When you give good teams an opportunity, one moment of allowing the ball to come inside has cost us the game.

“I got stuck into them at half-time and told them what I thought and what I expected of them because the first half wasn’t acceptable, we were too passive and we conceded the goal that cost us the game in the end.

“The second half was much better. We drove and I saw a team that was fighting with really good energy at the top end of the pitch but that chance never fell for us so we’ll look back at it and we’ll have to go again next week.

“I felt for some reason we played with the handbrake on in the first half, so we’ll look back on it and see what the reasons are but you can’t give good teams 45 minutes of a start on you and then expect a reaction.

“They gave me the reaction I asked for in the second half but ultimately we were unlucky not to get a point from the game.

“I think we caused a good team problems in the second half, we got on the front foot and pressed better and it allowed us to get up the pitch.

“If we can put it into a consistent 90 minutes then the football matches will start to turn.”

Conor McGrandles scored a stoppage-time equaliser to earn Charlton a 2-2 draw at League One leaders Portsmouth in a pulsating game at Fratton Park.

Abu Kamara put Pompey ahead at the break and, after Alfie May levelled in the 71st minute, Colby Bishop quickly restored the lead from the spot.

But McGrandles struck in the third minute of added time to earn the Addicks a point.

Pompey’s early bombardment bore little fruit, with just an Alex Robertson effort to show for it.

Charlton grew more into the game and could have gone ahead with efforts from Miles Leaburn and May.

But in the 32nd minute Kamara fired beyond Ashley Maynard-Brewer from 20 yards to put Pompey ahead after a half-cleared corner.

Pompey were close to a second in the 57th minute when a Bishop header was pushed brilliantly over the crossbar by Maynard-Brewer.

Kamara and Bishop both hit the bar before Charlton equalised when May drove a shot between Will Norris’ legs.

Pompey regained the lead with a 76th-minute penalty after Maynard-Brewer clattered into Paddy Lane and Bishop scored the spot-kick.

But Charlton refused to lay down and McGrandles headed home to salvage a point.

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho refused to blame Joe Morrell and Abu Kamara after their missed penalties sent his side crashing out of the EFL Cup at the hands of 10-man League One rivals Peterborough.

Kamara had the chance to send Pompey into round three but blazed his penalty over the bar before Wales international Morrell sent his crashing against the post as Posh triumphed 5-4 in the shootout after a 1-1 draw.

Mousinho said: “I have no problem with that, I’ve been in those situations, it’s really difficult and you have to have a lot of steel to step up and take one.

“We’re obviously disappointed at not getting through to the next round.

“We had plenty of chances but couldn’t put them away.

“Christian Saydee was excellent tonight. A massive presence and a thorn in their side throughout and I was delighted he got the goal.”

Posh took the lead after 29 minutes when an in-swinging corner caused Pompey problems and David Ajiboye bundled the ball home from close range.

It took only six minutes of the second half for Pompey to equalise as a cross from Paddy Lane fell to Saydee who, with his back to goal, swivelled to fire superbly past goalkeeper Fynn Talley.

Peterborough’s Charlie O’Connell saw red after a second yellow card for a foul on Terry Devlin in the 59th minute, having already been booked for kicking the ball away in the first half.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson said: “I was so proud of the team tonight. They’ve brought on half the team who will start on Saturday, we’ve gone down to 10 men and we’ve managed to dig it out.

“If we had lost in the last minute or on penalties, I would have still been proud of them. They gave everything.

“This was as important a game as any other game this season. I need to see who can step up to the first team and there were some good performances out there tonight.

“We scored a really good goal, had other chances and should have had a penalty as well.”