Pompey v Lincoln: John Mousinho's pre-match thoughts

The News, Portsmouth

Pompey boss John Mousinho chats to The News ahead of the Blues' home game against Lincoln

Transcript

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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