John Mousinho previews Portsmouth's FA Cup clash with Wycombe

The News, Portsmouth

Pompey boss John Mousinho's press conference ahead of FA Cup match with Wycombe.

Transcript

00:00So, Jon, FA Cup weekend, on the back of a busy league schedule, is this a nice little

00:07distraction?

00:08Yeah, it feels like it. I think we've been so heavy in the league recently, game after

00:13game after game. It's only a temporary one because we've obviously got the league that

00:19comes up really quickly, so we don't have the luxury of that couple of weeks break from

00:22the league that most sides have because we've got the Blackburn game that's been rearranged.

00:25Yeah, I suppose it's a nice one. It's a bit different and it's always brilliant to play

00:30in the FA Cup, so I'm looking forward to it.

00:31As a player, what was your memory of the FA Cup? And does it change when you're a manager

00:35as well?

00:36Yeah, it does, as a head coach, as a player, particularly as I spent the majority of my

00:42time in League 1 and League 2, battling through the earlier rounds. So, you know, you play

00:47the earlier rounds against sides that are in your league or below. Always good to get

00:54through to the third round if you can then get one of the big fish. We had a couple of

00:57brilliant ties when I was a player that really stick out in my memory. It's always a really

01:03exciting thing, I think, to be able to do. So, massive, massive, really positive memories

01:09of the FA Cup as a player. I think the furthest I got was the fifth round, but I played at

01:15some fantastic places and against some really good players. Yeah, slightly different. My

01:19only experience of the FA Cup so far as a head coach has been the Chesterfield game

01:23away last year, which was a bit of a disaster for us in terms of the result and also in

01:27terms of the fact we picked up a couple of injuries. So, got to be really aware of that

01:30this time around.

01:31And is there mindfulness going into that Wickham game? Because there's a lot of games on the

01:34back of that, on the back of a busy period. Is it going to be a game where maybe one or

01:37two will be left out? And also an opportunity for one or two players as well?

01:42Yeah, I think so. Normally, I wouldn't really go into changes that we're potentially going

01:48to make, but I think one thing's fair for Travelling fans that can spend a lot of money

01:52is to be aware that we are looking to tweak one or two things and probably bring in a

01:57couple of players that haven't necessarily had the time on the pitch so far. And I think

02:04that's a fair thing for us to do. I think it's the right thing for us to do. It may

02:06have been slightly different if we didn't have the Blackburn game on the Wednesday,

02:09but at the minute, I think that we're in a situation where players do need minutes. They

02:13need to be able to show that they're capable and this is a brilliant test for them as well.

02:18It's a great test. It's not just a game that we can chuck them on and say, oh, it's one

02:22of those that is a free hit because it's a side that we should be beating. It's a side

02:28that's properly competitive at the top of League One, which is great. So there's only

02:32four or five places in between the two teams. So yeah, a really competitive game where we

02:37might be able to see a couple of new faces.

02:39In terms of Wickham, had a really good season so far this campaign in the automatic promotion

02:44spots in League One. There's a league dim between the two sides. We actually look at

02:47the pyramid, there's not too many spots between the two.

02:49No, and I think it's a side that's obviously scrapping at the bottom of the championship

02:53versus a side that's been absolutely flying all season. And barring a bit of recent form,

02:57I think since probably, I don't know what it was, would have been the 29th, I think

03:02that the Wickham's unbeaten run was ended. That's, I think it was 18 or 19 games unbeaten.

03:08Fantastic form. I think they were close to setting records in terms of the amount of

03:12games that they won on the spin, a load of clean sheets. So a really excellent side,

03:15a really good side. We saw that pre-season when they came here and they beat us. So a

03:19really good side. I think we were going to certainly pose a difficult game for us.

03:24In terms of squad news, in terms of injury news, where are you with Jacob Fowler at the

03:28present moment in time?

03:29Yeah, Jacob, unfortunately, he's had a bit of a setback. He's opened up that same MCL

03:35again. So we're just looking at options in terms of what we do and to make sure that

03:39by the time he does come back from this one, it doesn't happen again. So yeah, we're just

03:42exploring a couple of options on that.

03:44Just finally for me, just a word on the fans. A lot of away games in a short space of time.

03:48They went through some treacherous conditions to get to Sunderland on Sunday. Just a word

03:53on them, if you may.

03:54Yeah, I mean, Sunderland is one of those that's such a long journey. The treacherous conditions

03:59right up the country and then sort of stuck up away with the gods there at the Stadium

04:03of Light and we could still hear them right through the game. Credits to the travelling

04:07fans for that. It would have been nice to have sent them home with a point or three

04:11points. The next best thing was a better away performance. We're still not happy with the

04:16way that we ended the game. Sorry, not happy with the majority of the game because we want

04:21to be more competitive and obviously go there to win the game. And I think that for the

04:25most part, we stuck in there. We played some good stuff, particularly towards the end.

04:30And the fans have stuck with us amazingly this season and particularly the away fans

04:34who haven't had a huge amount of joy on the road because of the results. I think it's

04:38a testament to how big that away support is at Portsmouth. And I've been to plenty

04:44of Championship games this year where the travel would have been far less for away teams

04:48and I look at the away end and it's nowhere near as full and nowhere near as vocal.

04:51Thank you, Jon.

04:52With Jacob Ferrell's latest injury, does that mean you might look at left back in the January

04:57window at all?

04:58There's a possibility. I think what's more likely is cover there. So if we're looking

05:04at other positions, because we've not necessarily identified that as a spot that we'd want to

05:09bring in. So, yeah, I don't think the right thing to do at this stage was to necessarily

05:15bring in a front line left back, but certainly someone that could cover, there's a possibility.

05:20Of course, that leaves Connor Ogilvie as well. He's got a lot of games to go through at the

05:23moment.

05:24Yeah, and Connor in my first season here, I think he missed one game out of the 23 at

05:30the back end of the season. Last year was one of his worst ever injury stricken seasons

05:36and he still played, I think, 25, 26 league games. So this year, touch wood, he's been

05:40fit for every game apart from the Sheffield Wednesday game. He's been excellent as the

05:45season's progressed as well and there's been a lot of workload on him recently.

05:49How is Jacob with the latest setback as well?

05:51Yeah, he's gutted. We're gutted for him as well because he's showed so many glimpses

05:56of promise and a couple of re-injuries have done it for him. So, yeah, Jacob's a strong

06:02lad. I think the most important thing is to make sure that by the time he does come back

06:05from the latest setback that he is and he's back and he's ready to go and whatever route

06:10we decide to take, he's fully happy with the MCL.

06:13In terms of the Wicked game, have you learned any lessons from last year in the FA Cup when

06:18you weren't very strong at Chesterfield?

06:19Yeah, albeit in different circumstances. So, I remember the Chesterfield game, we looked

06:25at the building, we had sort of a nine-day lead-in off the back of the Reading game and

06:29then it was on a Sunday, the Chesterfield game, we only had a two-day turnaround to

06:32the late in the morning game in the EFL Trophy. We knew we were going to make changes for

06:36the EFL Trophy game, so we thought the best thing to do was to sort of go full strength

06:41for the Chesterfield game, make the changes for the EFL Trophy game. In hindsight, if

06:45I could have done it another way, yeah, I maybe would have made more changes for that

06:49Chesterfield game considering the injuries we've got. So, certainly, I've got lessons

06:52to take away from that first FA Cup clash where the priority last year for us was the

06:56league, the priority again this year is the league and I think we've got to bear that

06:59in mind.

07:00Yeah, it's all about hindsight, no-one known at the time, but obviously, bad things happened

07:04to Regan, Paul and obviously Tino Anger in that match.

07:07Yeah, and we were really happy with them going into the game, so we had no issues with them

07:11going into the game. The only bit of hindsight is the fact that they probably, who knows

07:16with Portugal's luck at the minute, but they can't get injured from sitting on the bench,

07:19so that maybe would have been the only takeaway that we would have had from that game and

07:25see if we could have made any changes. At the time, we made the decision for the right

07:28reasons, but unfortunately, we ended up with a couple of injuries and to be honest, at

07:33the time, they felt big, but we ended up being able to sustain them clearly through the season.

07:38So, you'll approach this Wickham game with a different view on team selection?

07:42I've just got that in the back of my mind. I've got the fact that we've had such a heavy

07:46schedule. I've got the fact that we've got Blackburn midweek and I've got the fact that

07:50we've got some hungry players ready and willing to come in. So, yeah, we've got to be careful

07:54that we don't change too much. I think that's really important, but I certainly think it's

07:58an opportunity for some of the other players to come in.

08:00Is Rob Atkinson likely to have his first start?

08:02We'll manage Rob. I think Rob came on and he did really well. We got 23-24 minutes at

08:08the Stadium of Light. That's the most football he's played and it's the only football he's

08:12played since February 2023. So, nearly two years. We've got to be cautious about chucking

08:17him straight back in. So, there'll be some involvement. We don't know what that looks

08:19like at the weekend, but he'll definitely be involved in the squad.

08:22And Tom McIntyre, was he considered for centre-half as well?

08:25Yes, everyone will be in consideration and certainly Tom's kept himself at it since he's

08:30found himself out the side. So, there'll definitely be a consideration for Tom.

08:34In terms of the transfer window, are you close to anything else at the moment?

08:37Yeah, there's a couple of bits that have moved on recently. So, I don't think there'll be

08:42no surprises before the game at the weekend. So, we'll see how that pans out. So, the squad that

08:50we're taking to the Wiccan game will be very similar to the one we take to the Sunderland

08:56game. If we do get anything done before the Wiccan game, we won't be in time to be involved.

09:01But yeah, there's plenty that's moving.

09:03You've been linked with Isaac Hayden from Newcastle. Is there anything in that?

09:06Just sorry for the boring answer in the transfer window, but as far as I'm concerned with those

09:12sort of ones, we just respect the other club because they're contracted to the other club

09:16and not comment on it.

09:17And I know you're going to give the answer again, but Thomas Waddingham from Australia?

09:21Yeah, just the same answer there, unfortunately. I've said to you guys, the second we actually

09:27do anything, then I'll give you the full breakdown of why, how and when we sign the player.

09:33You're still hopeful of another signing in before Blackburn then?

09:36Yeah, I think that's realistic.

09:39And finally, Conor Schott, we'll see how close is he at the moment?

09:43Schott should train with us at the back end of next week. Now, that is return to training.

09:48Return to play is a different story with Schott because that's five to six months out. So,

09:53we just have to be cautious and take that one day at a time. But the first step for

09:56Conor is to get a good batch of training under his belt.

09:59You said before that you were looking, once he's back, you were looking at realistically

10:02February. Is that still the time frame?

10:04Yeah, there's no way. I think if he trains next week, there's no way that he's back returning

10:08to play before the start of February because he's been out for such a long time. And you

10:12always got to take that into account. Just working off a rule of thumb, if you're out

10:16for a month, usually it's about a week's worth of training before you're back and fit. If

10:19you're out for four months, you're probably looking at four weeks. Maybe we're not quite

10:22that extreme with Schott, but probably in and around that time scale.

10:26Is there anything you can manage differently to make sure it doesn't happen again?

10:30I don't think so from our point of view. Once he's back and once he's ready to train,

10:37we'll definitely monitor him in training as we did last time. But Schott's had a relatively

10:45sort of light couple of days going into the Sheffield United game and injured himself

10:50again in the warm-up, not really doing much. So, yes, we'll monitor that. We'll make

10:54sure he's strong coming back. He's taking a slightly different approach to his rehab

10:57this time just in terms of the advice he's got and some of the rehab he's been doing

11:02off the back of seeing the specialist. So, hopefully, yes, hopefully we have a different

11:05outcome. Thank you.

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