Portsmouth and Wrexham play out goalless draw

This was the first meeting between Portsmouth and Wrexham since 1986

Wrexham extended their unbeaten Championship run to four matches as Portsmouth ended their three-game losing streak following an entertaining goalless draw between the sides.

Kieffer Moore and Lewis O'Brien both had big opportunities to break the deadlock for Phil Parkinson's side - with Josh Murphy and Ibane Bowat having Pompey's best efforts.

But neither side could find a crucial winner at Fratton Park as the points were shared.

The point lifts Wrexham up to 14th. A draw sees Portsmouth sit 20th, five points above the relegation zone.

Only Josef Bursik, Regan Poole, Bowat and Andre Dozzell retained their places in the Portsmouth starting line-up as John Mousinho made seven changes from his side's 4-0 loss to Birmingham City.

Wrexham were unchanged from their 3-2 triumph over league leaders Coventry City - although it was the hosts who had the better start.

After Murphy fired at Arthur Okonkwo from a narrow angle, the winger blazed well over from a free-kick.

But the visitors grew in confidence in attack, with O'Brien stinging the palms of goalkeeper Bursik.

From the resulting corner, O'Brien almost turned provider as he crossed for Moore, although Bursik did brilliantly to claw away the striker's goalbound header.

The hosts were dealt a blow as Connor Ogilvie was forced off through injury before the half hour mark, although they came within a whisker of going ahead minutes later as Murphy's low drilled effort flew just wide.

Ben Sheaf dragged a shot wide from the edge of the box before Poole and Conor Chaplin had efforts at the other end as a lively opening half ended goalless.

Okonkwo got down well to tip away Murphy's fierce hit before palming away Bowat's header from the resulting corner as the home side started the second half strongly.

But Wrexham almost went ahead against the run of play as Josh Windass took a quick free-kick, with Liberato Cacace sending O'Brien through on goal, although the midfielder was well denied by Bursik.

Dan Scarr flung out his right leg to clear a Chaplin shot as the contest remained finely poised on the south coast of England, although Portsmouth and Wrexham kept their fifth and third league clean sheets of the season respectively as the points were shared.

Analysis: Murphy typifies Pompey's fight as Wrexham rue key missed chance

Portsmouth had not lost three successive league matches at home since March 2018, and they showed more than enough quality and fight to ensure that record was not matched.

Following Saturday's horror show at Birmingham, Pompey looked far more solid defensively and carried a real threat against the Welsh side - with Murphy leading the way.

The 30-year-old wideman ended the contest with the most shots, shots on target, chances created, open play crosses and passes into the opposition box of any player.

He deservedly claimed the player of the match award - with his spirit proving Mousinho's men have the fight in them to stay clear of trouble.

As for Wrexham, they went into the contest having created 32 big chances in the league this term, the fifth highest in the second tier.

Crucially, they had missed 20 big chances, the seventh most in the Championship. Moore drew a stunning save from Bursik with a header in the first half, but the away side's best chance fell to O'Brien after the hour mark.

The midfielder was played through on goal by Cacace but could only guide hit shot straight at Bursik.

So although Pompey had far more efforts and more than four times as many touches in the opposition box than Wrexham managed (29-7), Parkinson's men still had the opportunity to leave Fratton Park with all three points.

Nevertheless, the Welsh side are now on their joint-longest unbeaten run in the league this season and have now lost just once in nine Championship games.

Post-match reaction

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho:

"It was a really positive display – particularly in the second half – and we created more than enough to win the game.

"We needed to get the basics right after what happened on Saturday and we did that to give ourselves a foothold.

"We changed the system to deal with Wrexham's front three and there were some really good performances from our back five.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't put the ball in the back of the net and that was the big thing that was missing from us."

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson:

"It was a hard-earned point for us tonight. We've come to Fratton Park on a Wednesday night, it's always a test.

"They completely changed the way they played, not just system wise. They kind of switched the style back to what they'd done last year in response to recent results.

"I thought in the main we dealt with it really well. First half I thought we showed some quality, but second half, we couldn't quite get a foothold in the game - credit to them because they put us under pressure."