Why Portsmouth boss is convinced he can see light at the end of the tunnel despite third straight loss
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That’s the verdict of John Mousinho, who saw plenty to offer encouragement at Burnley, irrespective of a stoppage-time defeat.
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Hide AdCertainly the visitors were defensively comfortable against last season’s Premier League side, with Regan Poole magnificent on his return to the starting XI.


Yet despite a 2-1 loss leaving Mousinho fuming - and the Pompey still in the relegation zone - he recognises encouraging signs.
He told The News: ‘We are really close, but we are still there with three points after six games and we should have won a few of those games or at least got a bit more out of it by just being better in crucial moments.
‘When I look through that game and I am not so furious at everything I will be happy with the performance of a lot of the players, I thought all 11 (who started) were brilliant.
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Hide Ad‘I looked at a confident side on Saturday. I thought I saw a confident team playing, a side which was really assured in the way they played.
‘You definitely can take those positive signs into the next game, but you can’t keep going “Oh this is good, this is good, this is good” and losing games.’
Mousinho felt aggrieved following two late incidents involving substitutes Harvey Blair and Jordan Williams.
Blair was adjudged to have made a foul in the middle of the pitch, which Mousinho disputes, while Williams took a clattering from Zian Flemming on the touchline as the ball went out of play, sparking a confrontation among a number of players.
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Hide AdHe added: ‘I thought it wasn’t a foul in front of me (by Harvey Blair), that’s a very, very polite way of me putting it.
‘You can probably tell my frustration, it was a foul the other way, I cannot fathom why it has been given. We need a lot more, we need much, much better than that.
‘There was more than that, the referee will look back at the Flemming incident on Williams. I don’t know how he has missed that, but Williams has ended up getting booked.
‘Maybe that’s me being a bit harsh, but if key decisions go against you that lead to goals. I just do need better officiating.’
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