Portsmouth's biggest weakness - and why John Mousinho is hopeful it has finally been plugged
Ibane Bowat’s goal against Blackburn was only Pompey’s second from set-pieces this season
A triumphant John Mousinho reflected on rare Pompey set-piece success and admitted: It has been a big, big focus.
It was only the second time the team have netted from a dead ball this season, with the other being Marlon Pack’s late header from John Swift’s left-wing corner at Ipswich in September.
Even more alarming has been Pompey’s ongoing struggles to defend set-pieces, proving a consistent headache during their plummet down the Championship table.
However, on Saturday the hard work spent on the training ground with coach and set-piece co-ordinator Michael Doyle came to fruition to help earn Mousinho’s men their second victory in 11 matches.
And Mousinho is delighted to finally have a dead-ball situation earning points, rather than losing them.
Portsmouth boss: That’s where we haven’t been good enough this year
He told The News: ‘I’m really pleased for Michael, in particular, who has been working hard with the boys to make sure the delivery is right, to make sure we attack it well.
‘We’ve had a big, big focus over the past 6-8 weeks on defensive set-plays. Actually, it’s even longer than that, since the Norwich game, where we conceded a couple.
‘Set-pieces make a huge difference, that was the difference in Saturday’s game, where we’ve actually gone and won it off the back of a set-piece and defended pretty well.
‘That’s where we haven’t been good enough this year. Not just on set-pieces, but in tight games where we maybe haven’t performed quite as well as we could do.
‘I don’t mind saying it, in my three years here, particularly the first full season in League One, we’d come away with winning games because we’d just score a set-piece, that’s what the better sides in the league do.
‘We just haven’t had that and have actually ended up conceding and losing games time and time again. We need to really keep nailing down the importance of it.
‘We have been anyway, but there has to be a case for attacking the ball properly and then keeping the ball out of the opposite box.’
Michael Doyle’s appointment
League Two title-winning skipper Doyle was appointed in August, with Mousinho keen to bolster his coaching ranks.
The 44-year-old replaced Joe Prodomo as set-piece coach, allowing the goalkeeping coach to ditch the dual role and focus on looking after his pool of goalkeepers.
Having successfully overseen the position since Mousinho’s January 2023 arrival, Prodomo particularly enjoyed success in the 2023-24 season, with Conor Shaughnessy’s header from Pack’s corner winning the League One title against Barnsley in April 2024.
On Saturday, his successor’s work paid dividends in the opposition penalty area through Bowat’s maiden Blues goals - and next up is a trip to Derby.
Mousinho added: ‘Sometimes we’re scratching our heads about what we can do differently and what we can do better, but we have to get back on that again.
‘We have Derby next weekend, who are a very dominant side in terms of set-pieces, and we must be bang on them.’
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