'Leaps and bounds': Portsmouth boss delight at finally solving last year's glaring problem - but wants more

John Mousinho finally possesses the goal-scoring winger Pompey so desperately craved.

Yet he’s demanding ever-improving Paddy Lane continues adding to his healthy seven-goal haul.

It has been 12 months since the youngster arrived from Fleetwood, a period in which he has come on in ‘leaps and bounds’ according to the Blues’ head coach.

Lane has particularly stepped up with his goal output, representing the most productive campaign of his fledgling career.

The Blues last term struggled for goals from wide positions in League One fixtures, using Owen Dale (two), Ronan Curtis (two), Michael Jacobs (four), Reeco Hackett (three) and Josh Koroma (two).

Now Lane, who himself netted just once in 15 outings in 2022-23, is flourishing.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Paddy has plenty to improve upon, we speak about that pretty much every day because, for as many goals as he has scored, we want more.

‘He has done a lot for himself in terms of his personal development, coming from a difficult situation where he had the highs of being the EFL League One Young Player of the Season, to the lows of not playing as much as he wanted to at the start of last season and finding himself out in the cold at Fleetwood.

‘Then he came here and was a big signing in terms of the money spent. Considering the expectation for a player that had been so hyped as a young lad, to do as well as he has done, particularly this season, is brilliant.

‘He has gone away, got a lot fitter, a lot sharper, he does a lot of work out there, and to have seven goals at this stage of the season is superb.

‘Even though his form was really good towards the back end of last season, he looked a threatening player without scoring - and that was a big part of our work with Paddy over the summer.

‘It’s great being as threatening as you are, but you need to score more goals. For him to miss the opening four matches of the season with injury, to come back and produce the numbers he has is impressive.

‘Get your performances right then score goals - and Paddy has come on in leaps and bounds.’

With seven goals in 25 League One appearances, only Colby Bishop (13) has scored more for Pompey in the league this season.

And Mousinho is convinced the 22-year-old can continue to flourish at Fratton Park.

He added: ‘‘The demand on Paddy is to make sure he keeps his performances up, he can still increase his physical capability, there’s still a way to go in terms of his final product.

‘He’s a really good Pompey fit and it’s testament to him that he’s come back from what happened at the start of last season with Fleetwood and been as good as he has this year.’