John Mousinho shares what West Brom players told him about Aune Heggebo incident
West Bromwich Albion’s perfect start to the Championship season was halted on Saturday.
West Brom were held to a 1-1 draw by Portsmouth at The Hawthorns to drop points for the first time under new boss Ryan Mason.
Colby Bishop’s equaliser cancelled out Mikey Johnston’s first-half strike, as the Baggies were frustrated by a defensively solid Pompey side.
West Brom’s draw with Pompey was met with controversy, however, as Regan Poole didn’t see red for pulling back Aune Heggebo, and Portsmouth manager John Mousinho has had his say.
John Mousinho believes Portsmouth were lucky not to see Regan Poole sent off
Mousinho was very happy with the draw at The Hawthorns, given his side’s poor away record since returning to the Championship.
However, the Englishman did accept that Portsmouth were fortunate not to finish the game with 10 men after Poole’s incident with Heggebo.
The Norwegian was played through on goal, but had his shirt pulled by the Welshman before he could get a shot away, and the referee failed to give a foul for the incident.
After the game, Mousinho said: “I spoke to the referee’s assistant just after the penalty incident and he felt that Ogilvie had won the ball.
“I thought we might have been slightly lucky to get away with that (Poole on Heggebo) on.”
“I spoke to a couple of the West Brom players and they said Heggebo said he had full hold on Regan’s shirt as well.”
West Brom are still getting used to Ryan Mason’s system
The Baggies have made a great start to life under Mason, with wins over both Blackburn Rovers and Wrexham showing a major step forward from last season.
West Brom’s 3-2 win at Wrexham showed a mentality shift as they handled a hostile atmosphere with ease, but the 1-1 draw with Portsmouth shows they’re not entirely settled yet.
| Opponent | Score |
| Blackburn Rovers (H) | W 1-0 |
| Derby County (H) | D 1-1 (Lost on penalties) |
| Wrexham (A) | W 3-2 |
| Portsmouth (H) | D 1-1 |
Ultimately, goalscoring is still a major issue that the former Tottenham Hotspur assistant needs to fix, which isn’t helped by Daryl Dike’s constant injury problems.
If Mason can get the attack to click, the Baggies have the potential to be in the automatic promotion hunt come May.
Sign up for the West Brom News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking West Bromwich Albion news sent straight to your phone.