Why Portsmouth boss refuses to consider Championship table as side fall back into drop zone against QPR
Pompey fell back into the Championship bottom three against QPR on Boxing Day - but John Mousinho explains why that’s not his focus as his side make it three league games without defeat.
John Mousinho is remaining steadfast in his conviction the league table is ‘irrelevant’ at present as Pompey fell back into the Championship drop zone.
And the Blues boss insisted his side are now showing signs of progress, after the 1-1 Boxing Day draw with QPR made it three league games without defeat.
Mousinho believes his side served up a first-half display against the Londoners which ranked as a season’s high, before being pegged back by yet another set-piece lapse after the restart.
Pompey pummelled Julien Stephan’s play-off chasing side for the opening 45 minutes and carved out a number of openings, before Terry Devlin’s finish just before the break.
Mousinho reasoned that outcome is a consequence of poor form in the run-up to the festive period, however, over the current progress he sees.
He said: ‘It (the table) is just completely irrelevant for us at this point.
‘The only thing we’re thinking about is the game against Charlton in two days’ time.
‘We came into this block of games losing three on the spin, having been poor here against Bristol City, really poor for 45 minutes against Sheffield United and coming off the back of some poor games and a long run without winning games - and at points looking like we’re not competing.
‘I feel we were fully deserving of the win against Blackburn, some really good moments against Derby and a really good 45 minutes here. So I think we’re going in the right direction and we need to make sure we keep building on that.
‘At any other point in any other season this is a good run of three games, but it’s because of the situation we’re in.
‘QPR isn’t the issue, Derby isn’t the issue in terms of not winning that game. The issue lies in other games where we haven’t taken points or won games.
‘There’s no issues with that, but I’m pretty pleased with the direction we’re going - we need to keep building on that and try to win a game in three days.’
Mousinho was in full agreement with the consensus what was witnessed from Pompey in the first half was unmatched this season, in terms of the level of performance reached.
The Blues head coach doesn’t feel a lack of confidence was a factor in those levels not being maintained after the restart, as QPR hauled themselves back into the game.
‘That’s one of the frustrating things for me, we look at the lack of goals and put it down to confidence but I don’t ‘see a side playing with a lack of confidence, it’s maybe just a bit of that in front of goal.
‘We created opportunities and made the keeper make saves. It was ultimately a day where we didn’t give ourselves enough of a cushion, and then didn’t keep doing the same things in the second half.
‘We did enough in the first half to be more than a goal ahead. I don’t think it was disappointment at that (the second half display), because we scored a goal just before half-time.
‘It was more that we just came off doing the right things, that was in and out of possession. That was the thing from my perspective - once we conceded the goal we got back to doing the right things again, we started to dominate the game again.
‘Maybe there’s that mentality around when it’s 0-0 we’re braver and ready to take risks. Then when we get a goal we want to shut up shop and tighten things up. That's not unique to us, it happens up and down the country every week, but in order to be a better side we have to show more confidence.’