The 'big risk' which persuaded Portsmouth boss to drop his ex-Norwich match winner Louis Thompson against Fleetwood
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And Danny Cowley has explained why his in-form midfielder was not called up to do battle against Fleetwood.
Among the four players dropped for Saturday’s dramatic 3-3 draw with the Cod Army, unquestionably the absence of Thompson drew the most attention.
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Hide AdSupporters criticised the omission of the ex-Swindon man to create the space for Joe Morrell’s first-team return following a three-match ban.
During the Welsh international’s absence, Thompson has thrived, totalling four successive starts.
But for Cowley, naming him in his side against Fleetwood was a ‘big risk’ he wasn’t prepared to take.
He told The News: ‘There were just a couple of small tactical tweaks, the bigger problem for us was we couldn’t quite risk losing Louis against Fleetwood after playing 90 minutes at Shrewsbury.
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Hide Ad‘I thought that was a real loss to us, that was the bigger thing for me.
‘We are getting there with Louis, he played 90 minutes on Tuesday, which was a real positive.
‘We needed him at Shrewsbury against a team which we know are very good on the attacking transition.
‘If we had played him against Fleetwood, I don’t think we’d have been able to use him against Oxford.
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Hide Ad‘I think it would have been a big risk playing him on Saturday, he was very tight and sore the previou Thursday.
‘On Friday he did a bit of training, but it would have been a risk.’
Thompson has totalled 25 appearances this season following his summer release by Norwich.
His sole goal was that 84th-minute winner at Shrewsbury on Tuesday evening.