‘Sharp end’: Portsmouth boss lays it on line as season reaches fever pitch against Millwall, Coventry City and Derby County

The Blues begin a rapid run of three games in eight days at Millwall today, with a trip to Coventry followed by relegation rivals Derby arriving at Fratton Park.

It’s a run where Pompey know they can effectively secure their place in the Championship, after returning to the level after a 12-year absence.

The gap to the drop zone was reduced to five points, after Derby climbed out of the bottom three on Wednesday as they collected their fourth win on the spin.

The whole picture at the bottom will likely shift again this afternoon, with arguably 11 teams involved in the relegation dogfight up to Preston in 14th place.

Mousinho knows his team are now firmly at the ‘sharp end’ of their bid to remain in the second tier.

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He said: ‘That was my argument after the Leeds game: things can change very quickly in a week, both positive and negatively.

‘It went the wrong way after we played Leeds, because we went from 10-point gap to a four-point gap.

‘Now there is nine points to play for in eight days, so it’s going to be a very, very interesting end to the season.

‘There’s this period, there’s the Easter weekend and there’s still loads of points on the table - so we have to be very wary of that.‘

It’s a huge part of the season - a huge, huge part of the season.

‘It’s probably felt like that all the way through, but this time of season we talk about the sharp end - and it’s exactly that.’

Mousinho also reaffirmed his message to his players over the importance of finding a way to win at this stage of the season, with collecting point taking firm precedent over the level of performance.

The Blackburn success was a case in point with Valerien Ismael’s side clocking up the superior stats, but the Blues eking out three points in a scrappy clash.

Mousinho: It’s about results

Mousinho added: The most important thing is to try to win games of football.

‘That’s why I wasn’t too displeased with not playing brilliantly on Saturday - and was extremely displaced with playing well and losing at Preston.

‘It’s all about the results - and that’s what we have to pick up.’

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