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Pompey v Lincoln: John Mousinho's pre-match thoughts
The News, Portsmouth
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21/09/2023
Pompey boss John Mousinho chats to The News ahead of the Blues' home game against Lincoln
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00:00
So John, today we're in your office, the manager's office, aren't we?
00:03
And after the team had their team photo taken this afternoon, so it's a bit different environment.
00:09
Looking ahead now to the Lincoln game, how do you see this one?
00:12
Yeah, another tough fixture coming up with the opponents who have had some really good
00:17
results this year and, you know, have looked like a really good outfit.
00:20
So we're really looking forward to picking that up.
00:26
So put the mic in there.
00:27
Yeah, keep going.
00:28
Yeah, so I mean, we're really looking forward to obviously coming back here to Fratton Park
00:33
after quite a while away.
00:34
I think it'll be three weeks altogether that we've been away.
00:36
So yeah, you know, just a really good occasion, I think, off the back of two very, very tough
00:40
away games and a good chance to come here and compete again.
00:45
What was your reaction like after Tuesday's?
00:48
It felt like an epic game first off and then the second half up and down.
00:52
It was mixed, really.
00:53
I was disappointed with the way that we played in the second half, but, you know, delighted
00:57
with the fact that we came away with three points and we fully deserved it, I thought,
01:00
on the balance of the game and the fact that we really should have had it completely out
01:03
of sight.
01:04
I know some people might say three-nil at half-time is out of sight, but we clearly
01:06
saw that teams get one goal and it changes the dynamic of the whole game.
01:10
So I thought that the first half performance fully warranted going three-nil up, if not
01:15
a couple more.
01:16
I thought we had a really good shout for a penalty as well when we were three-nil up
01:19
that wasn't given on Alex Robertson and a couple of other chances.
01:21
So really, really pleased.
01:23
I was not concerned, but I was wary of the fact that we'd had the long trip to Derby
01:29
and another long trip to Barnsley.
01:30
I think that probably did tell in the second half as well, but I didn't know how that would
01:33
affect us in terms of us starting the game.
01:36
We started the game brilliantly.
01:37
We were on fire and, you know, really, really pleasing just to see some of the football,
01:42
some of the pressing and also some of the goals that came off the back of it.
01:45
Has that first half now set the bar that you're going to tell the players this is what you
01:49
can do in a match?
01:51
I think so.
01:52
It's one of those things where I came in at half-time.
01:53
The first time I think I've come in at half-time I've had very little to say for the boys,
01:57
other than you have to be prepared for a reaction in the second half from Barnsley.
02:00
We know that's going to come.
02:01
It did, it definitely did.
02:06
That is the standard.
02:07
I think that's probably the gold standard, what we saw in the first 25 minutes in particular
02:11
of how we want to perform.
02:12
I think I said it after the game on Saturday, one of my frustrations at Derby was that we
02:16
came away from the game thinking we probably should have won it, away at Derby, one of
02:19
the promotion contenders.
02:20
But I just thought it took us a minute to get into the game.
02:24
It took us probably 25 minutes, half an hour to really kick into gear.
02:28
We didn't quite believe in ourselves enough and that's what we're trying to drum into
02:30
the lads.
02:31
They have the capability to do it, just need to perform consistently.
02:33
You're never going to be able to string 90-minute performances back to back to back.
02:37
There's always going to be some dips, absolutely take that on board.
02:41
What I've seen certainly on Tuesday and actually glimpsed over the last few weeks is what we're
02:46
capable of doing.
02:47
What can you achieve if you do reach that first half standard again?
02:52
I think anything.
02:53
We look at every game now and we think there's points there to be gained from all of them.
02:58
One of the things we struggled with last season was playing against top six sides or potential
03:03
top six sides.
03:04
I certainly think that in the last three matches we've played three sides who, if they're not
03:09
in the top six, they'll definitely be there and thereabouts.
03:11
Peterborough had a couple of really good results off the back of playing us, granted won an
03:15
EFL trophy, obviously defeated Cheltenham the other night handily.
03:22
They've got a very good front line, so a good place to back that up.
03:25
I think the same about Derby and Barnes, I think they're excellent sides.
03:28
It just goes to show that we really do have the capability now of competing with those
03:32
sort of sides at home, away from home.
03:35
We really have to keep going with that and make sure that we show consistency to do it
03:37
throughout the season.
03:38
How important is it to follow up what you've done the last two away games, now back at
03:43
Thretham Park?
03:44
I think for a number of reasons.
03:46
First of all, in terms of trying to build upon what we've actually achieved over the
03:50
first eight games, it's really important we come back here after a little break away from
03:53
Thretham Park and perform well at home.
03:55
We've had a couple of really good away performances and there'll be a lot of expectation.
03:59
I think the crowd will be really buzzing, the atmosphere will be great.
04:03
People will have missed coming and watching football here.
04:05
We've got to take advantage of that, so I think it's really important we string those
04:08
performances together and try and string the results together.
04:11
That's how you build momentum in a season, you have to follow up performances with performances
04:17
again and the schedule is absolutely relentless.
04:20
It doesn't stop, everybody would have realised that having done the travel over the weekend
04:24
and on Tuesday.
04:25
We have to dust ourselves off and go again and also realise that it's just a completely
04:28
different challenge we're going to face on Saturday.
04:31
In terms of injuries, what's the situation with Connor Ogilvie?
04:35
Connor Ogilvie is struggling with his groin, he's going to be touch and go for the weekend.
04:40
We left it off today just to see how it was settled down.
04:43
Still a bit sore, so we will give him a fitness test tomorrow and see how he shapes up.
04:47
He's been such a critical part of everything we've achieved over this, actually everything
04:52
we've done since I came into the football club.
04:54
He only missed one game towards the back end of last year where he didn't play against
04:57
Morecambe at home.
04:58
Apart from that, he's been absolutely flawless in terms of his ability to come in and play
05:03
games.
05:04
Connor is one who is very robust and I'm sure he'll be back as soon as he can.
05:10
There are no other injury concerns from Tuesday night.
05:13
We're still monitoring Christian's progress, he was out on the grass again today.
05:18
We're building him from 50, 60, 70, 80% making sure we don't unduly risk anything.
05:24
It's always a bit of a game of cat and mouse, you don't want to be overly cautious and have
05:26
a player sitting in the stands and not involved when he could be.
05:29
But on the other side, we don't want somebody coming in and trying to go full tilt here
05:33
at home at Fratton and then pulling something.
05:36
Christian is touch and go on that one.
05:37
I think all of the others are the long term ones that we have.
05:41
We're sure Ragge is in good progress.
05:44
Yeah, Ragge should be absolutely fine.
05:46
Sorry, Ragge's trained today so he's absolutely fine.
05:50
That was one that just needed to settle down, he'd just taken a knock on the bottom of his
05:52
foot and I think, like I said, he was willing to dose himself up and get out there but we
05:59
knew we wouldn't really be able to rely on him for any more than maybe 10, 15 minutes
06:03
and we thought at that stage the player is not really fit as much as he wanted to be
06:07
involved so I thought it was the right decision considering he trained today and he's now
06:10
available for the weekend.
06:11
So yeah, those are the short term ones.
06:13
And yeah, the longer term ones are progressing really nicely.
06:15
Kassim's been out on the grass today, Tom Lowry not yet but he's probably a couple of
06:19
weeks away but getting a nice mobility in the knee.
06:23
Anthony Scully, again he's been out on the grass, he's been doing quite a bit and hopefully
06:26
we'll see him within the next couple of weeks.
06:28
Thank you, cheers.
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