Former Portsmouth boss heaps praise on Danny Cowley as Blues’ second half response earns hard-fought point against Sheffield Wednesday

It came after Pompey suffered a difficult opening 45 minutes with a poor showing seeing them trail 1-0 at the break.

However, the Blues shot straight out of the blocks when Connor Ogilvie netted the leveller after half-time before Michael Jacobs and Colby Bishop put the visitors 3-2 ahead after 64 minutes.

Whittingham pinpointed the Pompey boss’ chat with the former Accrington man and Joe Pigott at the interval as the catalyst to the Blues’ impressive second half performance.

Following the 3-3 draw, the former Aston Villa striker admitted he was impressed with how Cowley was able to adjust his side at half-time.

He told BBC Radio Solent: ‘I think the first 45 minutes Sheffield Wednesday were totally dominant by the way they were playing. They were overrunning the midfield and defensively Portsmouth couldn’t handle the front two.

‘Then that changed in the second half and immediately Pompey came out a different side.

‘Obviously Danny Cowley rejigged the side and had said something to his strikers by the way they were playing together.

‘As a pair, I think at least one of them was then looking to stretch the opposition to bring a bit of space because it was too cramped in the first half, both strikers were looking short and nobody stretched the opposition.

‘Cowley adjusted well at half-time and three goals in the second half showed that they worked a way of beating the Sheffield Wednesday defence and also not making it as free flowing for the opposition as it was in the first half.

The Pompey boss gave debuts to five summer arrivals as well as handing Marlon Pack a start on his Blues return.

Whittingham was pleased with how those new-faces fared in a difficult afternoon at Hillsborough and believes a point is a promising result against the pre-season League One favourites.

He continued: ‘Whatever Danny Cowley said at half-time was very positive in terms of reaction on the pitch and eventually getting themselves into a 3-2 lead but couldn’t quite hang onto it.

‘There were good debuts by the new players and it’s a very promising start because 3-3 at Sheffield Wednesday is not a bad result as the season progresses with other teams.’