John Mousinho pinpoints 'exceptional' double act driving Portsmouth ambition

John Mousinho has hailed the ‘exceptional’ double act forming the backbone to Pompey’s bright early-season form.

And he believes Regan Poole and Conor Shaughnessy can continue making huge strides as an impressive centre-half pairing.

For the first time as a Championship boss, Mousinho’s choice in the centre of defence isn’t restricted by injury - and the Blues are reaping the rewards.

Having selected Poole and Shaughnessy as his favoured pairing at Oxford United on the opening day, the duo have started all five of Pompey’s Championship matches so far, keeping three clean sheets.

And, having not previously started together for 21 months, Mousinho is delighted to reunite the talented twosome.

A pre-season selection decision

He told The News: ‘Based on what I saw in pre-season, I thought Regan and Conor were the best two centre-halves around the building, so started with them - and they have done very well.

‘They were both out for long periods last year, particularly Shocks, he hardly played a game, so this is his first proper run of Championship football.

‘Regan had more matches last season, but was probably never quite at it off the back of the ACL injury. It took him a while to get going, we had to throw him in a lot sooner than we would have liked to because of the injury problems we had at the start of that season.

‘The pair of them have now adjusted to the level pretty well. I still want to have a huge emphasis on improving and making sure we are better and better every game, but so far they’ve been very good.

‘When you look at where we’ve been statistically with the pair of them, they conceded 10 goals in 15 games at centre-half during the start of the League One season. We have continued in a similar vein this year.

‘Partnerships are really, really important all around the pitch. We’d want any of our centre-halves to be able to step in at any point, but Regan and Shocks seem to have a very good understanding of each other and are forming a good partnership.

‘It’s one thing we just couldn’t do last year. We never actually managed to have a settled back four, there were so many changes because of injury and sometimes because of form. ‘The one player who did nail down his spot was Connor Ogilvie, who played 45 of the 46 league games. Apart from that, there were constant changes across the other three positions.’

Shaughnessy and Poole were first paired together two games into the 2023-24 campaign, remaining a fixture for 15 matches until Poole sustained a season-ended ACL injury at Chester in November 2023.

Shaughnessy also suffered injury issues last season, being restricted to nine appearances, of which seven were Championship starts.

Now they are part of a Blues side which has conceded three goals from their opening five league games.

Portsmouth boss: It feels like progression

Mousinho added: ‘Defensively, it has been a really good start, it feels like a progression from where we were at the start of last season.

‘We want to be a lot more solid, we want to be harder to beat, and clean sheets are the foundation you can build from with football games. You give yourselves half a chance if you keep a clean sheet.

‘Certainly when the press is broken or when things don’t quite go to plan, we’ve got to defend crosses into the box or defend shots - and the pair of them have been exceptional.

‘You always think there is a potential injury around the corner and we don’t want to tempt fate, but, at the minute, they are fit and it’s a real positive.’

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