Pompey 3-1 Preston North End: John Mousinho's post-match verdict

The News, Portsmouth

Pompey boss talks to The News after his side's 3-1 win against Preston at Fratton Park

Transcript

00:00What's the overriding emotion?

00:03I think there's a few mixed emotions, really.

00:05I think there's massive relief and we are delighted with the fact that we've got the result.

00:10There's this real slight tinge of frustration because

00:14of what could have been, I think, over the previous 14 games.

00:17But that's gone now.

00:18We've got to deal with it.

00:19We didn't pick up the points that we probably deserve to pick up and we've got to move on.

00:23I think we've really got to build on that as we go into the next batch of games

00:28and take a lot of confidence from the performance.

00:30The first half was particularly dominant, two goals for a third.

00:33Very different goals but of equal importance.

00:35You must have been thoroughly impressed with both in different measures.

00:38I mean, the strike from Merth is outstanding and then another set-piece goal for Merth.

00:42Yes, I thought we were outstanding in the first half and we started the game properly.

00:46Restricted pressing to very, very few opportunities.

00:49And, yes, it was one of those.

00:51That sort of strike from Merth hasn't been going in previously.

00:55That's been one of those where, yes, we've got a bit of luck, it was a brilliant strike,

00:59but we've got that goal from nowhere where we've been missing chances from close range

01:05and not quite putting the ball in the backing net, as we did for the previous two games.

01:09So, really pleased that that went in.

01:11My only worry at times in the first half, when it was 0-0, was that we weren't going to take advantage of the pressure that we had.

01:16Because I knew that Preston were going to change something regardless at half-time, which they did and made it difficult.

01:21But I thought the first half were outstanding.

01:23Tricky period in the second half for 15 minutes, but then we got back control of the game,

01:28got to grips with it and deserved to win it.

01:30Talking about the tricky period at the start of the second half,

01:32Nicola Smith makes an outstanding save at 2-1.

01:35People to win the game and many people forget about that tonight, but I'm sure it doesn't go unnoticed.

01:40Yes, I mean, Nicko has come into the side with a lot of competition for those goalkeeping spots.

01:46It was a very difficult decision.

01:48I think, first of all, bringing Will out and then bringing Jordan out after his performance against Cardiff

01:52in Sheffield Wednesday and Nicko has repaid that faith with that massive save at Hull at 1-0.

01:59I thought he was pretty faultless up at Plymouth and, yes, he's done that.

02:02Again, that's what we rely on the goalkeepers for.

02:04So, we've got a really, really competitive department there and I'm really pleased that he's come back into the side and hit the ground running.

02:10It's a special moment of threatening Colby Bishop on a personal level.

02:13You know him for a number of years now, it must just be delightful.

02:17Yes, I mean, I'm delighted that we were able to register him

02:19because I think a Colby training and available to play would have kept knocking on my door going,

02:24I want to play, I want to play.

02:26It's a delight we were able to register him and I just, you know, it was amazing.

02:30It's brilliant to have Colby coming off the bench and affecting the game like he did.

02:33I'm really pleased for him to get the goal in.

02:35Actually, probably a bit more pleasing was his overall performance.

02:37I thought he didn't look like someone that had been out for the amount of time that he's been out and had open heart surgery.

02:43He just looked like he slotted straight back in.

02:45And Marlon Platt back in at centre-back.

02:46I mean, what was the thought process behind that and how did you review his performance?

02:50I think to answer the last question, I thought his performance was superb.

02:53And I think you take the context of everything that we've asked of Marlon.

02:56He's come out of the side for three games and he's been incredible around the dressing room.

03:03He's been a really, really important part of what we're trying to build here.

03:07And having lifted the Ligue 1 title last year.

03:10And it was something we've been thinking about for the past couple of weeks,

03:13because he was slightly short at centre-half.

03:14Tom McIntyre has been really good.

03:16But I think those three game weeks have sometimes taken their toll.

03:20And we just think he's got the attributes to be able to do that,

03:23certainly today on a one-off.

03:25And who knows going forward?

03:27Certainly after today's performance, I think it's a really serious consideration for us going forward.

03:31He can physically compete.

03:32He can play in terms of the ball at his feet.

03:35And there's a few things that we'll have to keep working on and adjusting.

03:38But it seemed to us like a calculated risk and thankfully it paid off.

03:43Cheers, thanks very much.

03:44Can you just develop the events that led to Colby coming this afternoon?

03:49Yes, so Colby's been training with us for about six weeks now.

03:52And what we had to do this week was do all the final checks.

03:55And I think Colby had three scans this week.

03:57And then he saw a specialist to make sure that he was actually able to come back inside.

04:01And it was safe for him to do so.

04:02And he had his final one, I think, on Thursday.

04:04So, yes, there was a bit of, I suppose, a bit of

04:08kidology, but there was slightly making sure that we were

04:12selective with the truth.

04:14Because what we didn't want to do was something comes back on Thursday,

04:17the specialist says, no, actually, we spotted something on the scan.

04:20And all of a sudden, he's going to be out for another six weeks.

04:23And us having said, oh, no, Colby's ready to come back.

04:25So, that was very, very deliberate in terms of the way that we did it.

04:30We were never going to do it any other way.

04:32And we're going to make sure that we were comfortable having him back in the squad.

04:34And once we were, I think, on Thursday,

04:36we were delighted to be able to name the squad with him in it.

04:40There's eyes and ears everywhere in this city.

04:42Do you think you'll be able to keep up with that?

04:44I didn't. I don't know, really.

04:46I mean, he's been training with us and everybody can come and watch our training.

04:50So, yes, I don't know.

04:52I probably didn't.

04:54But one thing to be fair to the fans that come and train at the gym is that we...

05:00I probably shouldn't say this, but sometimes if you want to come

05:04and get a gym membership on a Friday afternoon, you probably work out our team.

05:07And they may have been able to work out that Colby Bishop had been training with us.

05:10So, I was slightly surprised.

05:12I think we were able to keep it under wraps.

05:13But we did that deliberately.

05:14We didn't want to...

05:15We've done it with a couple of other injuries, not deliberately,

05:17but where we thought players were going to be back sooner than we were.

05:20And I think it just deflates everyone when they're not back in.

05:22And we didn't want that this week with going, yes, Colby's ready.

05:25And then all of a sudden, he's not in the squad.

05:26And it could have been another one that he's not ready for a few more weeks.

05:31So, we want to just protect him from that.

05:32Conversely, however, when it's under wraps and then you drop the loser an hour before kick-off,

05:36I think it's a massive lift to have one of our midfielders around the club.

05:39Yes, and that was the intention, really.

05:42I thought it was one of those that can really just boost everyone.

05:47And I felt it.

05:48I felt it when we came into the ground and when the side was named.

05:54I'm sure everybody was delighted with it.

05:55And it was a very, very difficult game to be able to bring him on to see the game out and get the goal.

05:59That was the most important thing.

06:01Yes, it was about all of the other benefits that we got from it.

06:05But the most important thing was having Colby back on the pitch.

06:07What is the process now for Colby?

06:10He's just back in full training now.

06:12There are no issues that we have, no worries that we have with him.

06:16He's passed every single check that we could possibly pass.

06:19And that was always my take, was that the second Colby is back and ready,

06:23knowing that we had the available spot, the second he was back and available, I was going to play him.

06:27It wasn't a reaction to Tuesday night or anything like that.

06:30It was just something that we wanted to do.

06:32So, Colby's just to be treated as just another squad member now.

06:37Yes, I mean, the people were debating about his involvement, would they get him involved when he was on the bench.

06:42Knowing yourself and your mindset with that, I knew that he'd be back in the infants' centre.

06:46And obviously, that's the mindset now, can you move forward with that?

06:48Yes, there's no way we would have involved him on the bench if we wouldn't have brought him on.

06:52And yes, it would have just been a wasted spot.

06:54So, it might have given everyone a big boost, but we can't afford to waste spots like that.

06:58And so, we've got other players that are competitive and champion at the bit.

07:02And there are players that are out of the squad, that don't deserve to be out of the squad.

07:05So, there's no way we'd have wasted a spot in the squad.

07:07What can Colby obviously do for the striker, not only in what he brings to the table, but also in sharpening that composition up there?

07:15Yes, I mean, I'm not saying this was the reason, but I thought it was the best that Kass has played this season.

07:19Probably slightly sluggish for the first 10 minutes, maybe because of the double travel.

07:24And then really started to get into Preston's centre-halves.

07:28The second goal comes from us.

07:29I'm taking the throw properly.

07:30Kass pins two centre-backs in the box, rolls them,

07:34does get to the shot on the edge of the box and we score from the corner.

07:36So, I thought Kass really, really grew into the game in the first half.

07:39It was a much, much better performance for him.

07:41So, I was really pleased there.

07:43And yes, all the centre-forwards have got to be on their toes.

07:45We're willing to play all of them at any time.

07:47And I think now we've got five in the building, if you include Christian Sadie.

07:51So, it's a really healthy competition.

07:52With Kass, that's quality, with De Manto and everything.

07:54With those attributes together,

07:56Kim Loach's play does not play up to him, as he's sort of been more today successful.

08:00Yes, and I thought he caused some real issues.

08:02And once one of those ones goes for him where, you know,

08:06the ball drops and he nearly gets in or slips a couple of times in the second half.

08:09Yes, once one of those goes for him, then, you know, it's going to be brilliant to have him around.

08:14How important now that this result this afternoon,

08:17after a balancer and a full of positives, is it for Kass to move on?

08:21Yes, it is really important.

08:22I also felt that the catalyst was the whole game and the performance there.

08:28And that was where I was slightly concerned on Tuesday night

08:34because of the midweek away performances.

08:36So, really assured after that Tuesday night performance.

08:38I felt very, very confident going into the game today.

08:40I felt much more confident about the game today.

08:42And that's not just me speaking now.

08:44I said it to the lads before and said it to the staff.

08:46Because of those two performances, it looked like we were a team that meant business

08:50and a team that, regardless of the result, Tuesday night,

08:53we were going to go for it and we were going to come back and dust ourselves off and go again.

08:57So, yes, the challenge is that we've got to keep that going because we're still in the lead position we're in.

09:01We've got a huge amount of work to do for the rest of the season.

09:03When we come back here in two weeks' time, we have Blackburn away, Millwall at home, Swansea away.

09:09Very, very, very tough fixtures at this level.

09:11We have to be at it every second of every minute of every game.

09:14And we need to use today as a springboard to be as good as we can be.

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