The 'perfect' moment struggling Portsmouth believe can keep them in the Championship
The Blues are 21st in the Championship after losing five of their last six fixtures
The international break has come at the ‘perfect time’ for a Pompey team in desperate need of a reset.
That’s the verdict of skipper Marlon Pack, with the Blues players reeling from Saturday’s 6-1 humiliation at QPR.
John Mousinho’s strugglers are in freefall, with one point from their last six matches leaving them one place above the Championship relegation zone.
The Loftus Road debacle was their worst performance of the season and had the 1,760 travelling support chanting ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ in the first half.
With the international break now underway, Pompey’s aren’t in action until Good Friday, when they are scheduled to travel to Norwich (April 3).
And Pack believes they need that time to regroup on the training pitch - ready to launch themselves into the final eight matches as they battle for their Championship lives.
‘Now we need a bit of soul searching’
He told The News: ‘We haven’t got momentum, but, with it being an international break, we have to use that in a positive way.
‘We could be leaving QPR with a victory and saying “We have the momentum and the international break has come at the wrong time”. Actually, I think it has come at the perfect time for us.
‘Now we need a bit of soul searching, allowing the group just to get away from everything for a little while.
‘Physically, mentally, having a reset and making sure that, when we come back together, we have to use this opportunity.
‘We have been afforded a chance in terms of how results went in our favour on Saturday, but we can’t keep relying on them.’
Double injury boost
There is light on the horizon in terms of injured pair Andre Dozzell and Keshi Anderson, who are both expected to be back available for the trip to Norwich.
As for the other members of the squad, Mousinho has ruled out them giving too much time off, particularly with a relegation battle needing to be won.
Although, on the flip side, he is aware players require a little time off, with a number of them showing signs of fatigue of late, with their performances deteriorating as a consequence.
Still, plenty of work remains to be done on the training ground to bring his team up to scratch after a dreadful run of results since the highs of beating Charlton and Millwall on the road last month.
‘I don’t think you solve any problems in isolation’
‘There’s the mental break that I think the boys need, the physical break, but we know you don’t solve problems by being away from the training ground.
‘I don’t think you solve any problems in isolation with players sitting at home thinking about what they need to do differently. There’s a little spell they can do that, there’s a couple of days to do that - then there’s work to do.’