‘The only team who can beat us’: Portsmouth boss lays it on line to players ahead of critical Blackburn Rovers survival showdown
Portsmouth head into the final quarter of the campaign at Blackburn Rovers this weekend, with a clear shout from their boss ringing in their ears as they fight to avoid Championship relegation.
John Mousinho has fired a no-nonsense message to his players over where their season stands with Championship survival at stake.
The Pompey boss is adamant his side are now showing they have the quality to stand toe-to-toe with any second-tier outfit and secure their place in the division this season.
Pompey boss: ‘I think we’re a good side’
But Mousinho has made it clear his men must show a ruthless edge and their football smarts, as they bid to execute their survival mission.
The head coach spoke after Saturday’s frustrating loss against high-flying Hull City, highlighting how he felt his men overcomplicated their play and didn’t attack at the required intensity.
Mousinho sees a group, however, broadly playing well over an extended period as performances and results head in the right direction this year.
That is backed up by the stats, with Pompey dominating the shot count in most of their games this year - with the cumulative league numbers since Bristol City on New Year’s Day 149-80 in their favour.
The Blues also had the lion’s share of possession in all but two of those two games, with one of those the win at Millwall where they were able to sit deep over the final quarter as they led 3-1.
Mousinho has now offered a clear and reasoned appraisal of where Pompey stand, as they head into the campaign’s final stages.
He said: ‘I feel we’re quite a good team and I think we’re causing problems for a lot of sides in the league, but we just need to show more ruthlessness.
‘We need to show a little bit more nous to go and win these games.
‘Honestly, if I look objectively at the past few games, I think we’ve done more than against Hull to control the entire game against a side who have just gone third in the league.
‘I thought we were better than Wrexham, who are a top-six side.
‘I thought we were better than Millwall, who were third on the day and we beat Charlton, who were down there with us.
‘We gave Sheffield United a good and Southampton was a pretty competitive game, but they’ve won pretty much every game since and are blowing sides away.
‘I don’t want us to get carried away, but I think we’re a good side.
‘I don’t think we’re in games thinking we need to be double direct, we have to rely on low percentage possessions and nicking things on the break.
‘I think people know me well enough and I’m not obsessed with possession and keeping the ball, but at the minute we look like we can control games and dominate games. I think we can get the ball in some promising positions in the final third.
‘I think we’re in a promising spot and my take is it’s entirely up to us what we do this season: The only side who can properly beat us is ourselves.
‘Earlier in the season we played sides who were just better than us - and that’s fine. If you look at Coventry and Birmingham, the first iteration of that Sheffield United game: Fine, those sides were better than us.
‘I don’t feel that at the moment - I think we’re more than good enough to compete.’
Pompey heading into defining quarter of Championship season
Pompey’s big trip to relegation rivals Blackburn this weekend starts the season’s defining period, as they head into the final quarter of the campaign.
Swansea City then arrive at Fratton Park the following Tuesday (March 10), with the home game against Derby (March 16) and trip to QPR (March 21) the run-up to the March international break.
Pompey’s Good Friday trip to Norwich on April 3 will need to be rearranged, if they progress in the FA Cup at Leeds on Sunday, with another likely huge fixture at home to Oxford on Easter Monday (April 6).
The final five scheduled matches is the trip to Middlesbrough (April 11), home match with Leicester (April 18), visits to Coventry (April 21), Stoke City (April 25) and final-day meeting with Birmingham (May 2). A date also need to be found for the home clash with Ipswich Town.