The no-nonsense demand which made Stoke City, Brighton and West Ham United target’s Portsmouth season fire ahead of Bolton Wanderers showdown

John Mousinho has revealed how some honest words helped Paddy Lane hit the Pompey goal trail again.

And the Blues boss has outlined his expectations of the talented winger, ahead of Monday’s exciting televised showdown with Bolton Wanderers.

Lane returned to goalscoring form in stunning style against Northampton last Saturday, with a two-goal salvo in his man-of-the-match display at Sixfields.

The finishes were the 22-year-old's first in 10 games, since hitting a trio of efforts in as many games back in September.

Lane’s form has been impressive for Pompey this season, but Mousinho feels not delivering greater end product has been a legitimate criticism.

The Blues boss is now demanding more of the same from the £250,000 signing in January moving forward.

He said: ‘I thought Paddy was a constant threat on Saturday. He kept looking like he was really, really likely. The really, really pleasing thing though was he put the finishing touches to his game, which he sometimes hasn’t had.

‘He got those three goals in that spell and you thought “okay, Paddy’s coming into it”. ‘He probably didn’t quite take his eye off it, but in recent games when he’s got into those positions he’s not shown his quality - and that’s something we know he’s got.

‘We said we are going to demand a bit more of you because we know you’ve got it, if we didn’t think you’ve got it we wouldn’t bother. Paddy put it all together against Northampton, perhaps except for that final finish when he was through for his hat-trick. We’re really pleased with him.’

Lane revelled in a role down the left flank last weekend, as the man who’s attracted interest from the likes of West Ham, Stoke and Brighton put in a flying machine performance. That was a shift from the right flank, where he’s largely operated this term, allowing Abu Kamara to move to the right where he’s also excelled.

Mousinho feels that’s a move which has paid off in the previous two wins, with Josh Martin also brighter at the Pirelli Stadium last week after a quieter bow against Blackpool.

He added: ‘We play Paddy on the right the majority of the time. I thought Abu (Kamara) was a threat on the right at Burton and we wanted to rest Josh Martin after two games in four days.

‘Paddy came on against Burton and looked really sharp. His running in behind was a threat. Then in the first half he kept running in behind and he kept getting the ball. That was really pleasing.’