Portsmouth defender wants 'phenomenal' John Mousinho to stay at Fratton Park amid Bristol City links

Regan Poole has hailed John Mousinho’s ‘phenomenal’ performance as Pompey boss.

And he expects there to be summer interest in the highly-regarded 39-year-old’s services, with Bristol City having already been linked.

During his three-and-a-half years at Fratton Park, Mousinho has transformed a side fearing relegation to League Two into an established Championship outfit.

Having secured safety with two games to spare - for the second season running - Pompey head into Saturday’s final match against Birmingham with the chance of surpassing last season’s points tally of 54.

And Poole, who has been a pivotal figure in Mousinho’s side since his own arrival in the summer of 2023 from Lincoln, has applauded the head coach’s ongoing performance.

‘He has been brilliant for this football club’

The Wales international told The News: ‘The gaffer has been brilliant for me, he’s a really good manager.

‘Last year, when I wasn’t having the best of seasons, he was still picking me, he still had his confidence in me, and he’s been really good for me.

‘There is always going to be a bit of interest (in the manager), he has done a phenomenal job at this football club, of course, I expect there’s interest in him. I hope he stays, he has been brilliant for me, he’s been brilliant for this football club, so hopefully it will continue.

‘He’s really good at a lot of things, such as adapting to different styles and different teams. I wasn’t having the best of seasons last year, but he was still confident in me, which is big because I could have easily dropped out of the team when I wasn’t playing my best football.

‘The gaffer had real confidence in me and I don’t think I would have had the season I’ve had this year without that season. That in itself shows him as a manager.

‘He’s a young manager, he has obviously started his career off very well and getting any interest in him isn’t a surprise, to be honest.

‘Last season staying up was a big one, this season is a big one again. He’s had three fantastic seasons at this football club, so hopefully he will continue.’

Contender for The News/Sports Mail Pompey Player of the Season

Poole, who has made 85 appearances under Mousinho at Pompey, has enjoyed an outstanding campaign during their latest successful fight against relegation.

Inevitably, he has featured strongly in player of the season discussions along with Terry Devlin, with The News/Sports Mail trophy to be presented to the winning player before Saturday’s kick-off against Birmingham (12.30pm).

Although rested from last weekend’s 3-1 triumph at Stoke, Poole has emphatically proven himself to be over his injury issues this term, with 40 league starts.

And he continues to love life on the south coast - under Mousinho.

Poole added: ‘I’ve had a few managers in my career, the gaffer is probably the youngest along with Russell Martin.

‘He’s adapted from playing out from the back to going a bit longer against teams, he’s definitely not afraid to do that. It’s not all one size fits all, it’s not play, play, play. If we need to go a bit longer, we hit Colby a bit more, that sort of stuff.

‘It’s really good in terms of how we mix it up.’

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