‘Used most of credit’: Portsmouth boss’ jarring admission over backing from Fratton faithful ahead of Sheffield Wednesday
John Mousinho warned his players they can’t expect unrelenting support from the Pompey faithful after dropping to the foot of the Championship.
And the Blues boss acknowledged most of his side’s ‘credit in the bank’ from winning the League One title has been used up, amid their struggles this term.
There are once again major questions being asked of Mousinho’s side, in the wake of a worrying display in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at Cardiff.
Now a response is once again needed with Sheffield Wednesday arriving at Fratton Park on Friday night, with the belief the home crowd will once again be firmly behind their team.
Mousinho knows that will likely be the case, but feels his players shouldn’t take anything for granted - even just six months on from winning the League One title.
He said: ‘Any performance will come under scrutiny, regardless of where we are in the league or how we’ve done.
‘Certain players or coaches may have a bit more credit in the bank than otherwise and, as a football club and squad, we’ve probably built up a bit of credit in the bank hence we have such a brilliant support and amazing following.
‘But that doesn’t last forever though and we’ve probably used up most of that credit at the moment, so we really need to sort ourselves going forward.
‘We knew we’d have the elation of Saturday but the context of that game is always framed by what you do next.
‘It was great we got the three points Saturday, but what? We think put the effort in for 90 minutes and that’s enough? It’s definitely isn’t, it definitely isn’t at this level.’
Pompey have once again been holding some honest talks between staff and players, to look at reasons for the weak Cardiff display.
That’s taken the form of a lengthy post-match debrief on Tuesday night and meetings between the staff and players which took place yesterday.
Mousinho was honest enough to admit he couldn’t see an obvious reason for what happened in Wales and in the Stoke thrashing at the start of the month, but the faults on the pitch were clear.
He added: ‘It’s a cause for concern (having two performances like Stoke and Cardiff)
‘It’s weird, though, because I don’t know what the pattern is. It would be one thing if it was we go away from home and don’t start games particularly well.
‘But we’ve gone away from home and started some games abysmally, started some games well and halfway in between.
‘I guess the thing is if we produce a positive performance and then go away mid-week, we don’t look like following it up.
‘That’s something we need to address and it’s something I don’t have the answer to at the moment.
‘I don’t have the answer, otherwise we would’ve addressed it before the game. I don’t think it will be an issue Friday night, but when we got to Hull and Plymouth it’s something we have to be really wary of.
‘At Cardiff it was the basics of the game we didn’t do well
‘There’s plenty we got wrong as a staff and me as a head coach, too. We have to make sure we address that and we will go through that.
‘But the way we started the game wasn’t on the front foot and we conceded a goal from a throw and a set-play.
‘You can’t defend a corner like we did against established Championship teams and players who’ve come down from the Premier League, players who will play in the Premier League.
‘If we lose a game, lose it because a team is better than you - don’t lose it because we’ve switched off from a set-piece or you’re not lively enough, don’t communicate or slash at a clearance - that was my big message to the players.’