The Blues fought hard and defended well in the face of Portsmouth pressure, winning headers in the box and standing up to the physical fight. They opened the scoring 13 minutes into the second half as Musonda rounded off a neat move with an expert finish before conceding an equaliser late in stoppage time.

Where others might have retreated, Joe Edwards’s side still sensed the opportunity to win and Callum Hudson-Odoi’s brilliant run right at the death was ended prematurely and illegally on the edge of the box. Musonda stepped up, picked his spot and curled the free-kick perfectly into the corner as our youngsters continued their remarkable run in this senior competition.

Edwards made five changes from our 4-0 victory at MK Dons in the last-32 in December with Michy Batshuayi, scorer of a brace in Buckinghamshire, replaced by Harvey St Clair up front. Forward support came in the form of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Musonda, also goalscorers in the last round, while Ruben Sammut, Kyle Scott and Jacob Maddox comprised the midfield.

Marcin Bulka returned in goal protected by a back four of Dujon Sterling, Ethan Ampadu, Trevoh Chalobah and Josh Grant. Reece James missed out with injury, while Jake Clarke-Salter completed a loan move to Sunderland earlier in the week. With an average age of just over 18.5, the visitors were collectively four years younger than Portsmouth, who named a strong starting line-up having not been in action since New Year’s Day.