Pompey boss John Mousinho chats to The News ahead of the Blues' home game against Lincoln
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00:00 So John, today we're in your office, the manager's office, aren't we?
00:03 And after the team had their team photo taken this afternoon, so it's a bit different environment.
00:09 Looking ahead now to the Lincoln game, how do you see this one?
00:12 Yeah, another tough fixture coming up with the opponents who have had some really good
00:17 results this year and, you know, have looked like a really good outfit.
00:20 So we're really looking forward to picking that up.
00:26 So put the mic in there.
00:27 Yeah, keep going.
00:28 Yeah, so I mean, we're really looking forward to obviously coming back here to Fratton Park
00:33 after quite a while away.
00:34 I think it'll be three weeks altogether that we've been away.
00:36 So yeah, you know, just a really good occasion, I think, off the back of two very, very tough
00:40 away games and a good chance to come here and compete again.
00:45 What was your reaction like after Tuesday's?
00:48 It felt like an epic game first off and then the second half up and down.
00:52 It was mixed, really.
00:53 I was disappointed with the way that we played in the second half, but, you know, delighted
00:57 with the fact that we came away with three points and we fully deserved it, I thought,
01:00 on the balance of the game and the fact that we really should have had it completely out
01:03 of sight.
01:04 I know some people might say three-nil at half-time is out of sight, but we clearly
01:06 saw that teams get one goal and it changes the dynamic of the whole game.
01:10 So I thought that the first half performance fully warranted going three-nil up, if not
01:15 a couple more.
01:16 I thought we had a really good shout for a penalty as well when we were three-nil up
01:19 that wasn't given on Alex Robertson and a couple of other chances.
01:21 So really, really pleased.
01:23 I was not concerned, but I was wary of the fact that we'd had the long trip to Derby
01:29 and another long trip to Barnsley.
01:30 I think that probably did tell in the second half as well, but I didn't know how that would
01:33 affect us in terms of us starting the game.
01:36 We started the game brilliantly.
01:37 We were on fire and, you know, really, really pleasing just to see some of the football,
01:42 some of the pressing and also some of the goals that came off the back of it.
01:45 Has that first half now set the bar that you're going to tell the players this is what you
01:49 can do in a match?
01:51 I think so.
01:52 It's one of those things where I came in at half-time.
01:53 The first time I think I've come in at half-time I've had very little to say for the boys,
01:57 other than you have to be prepared for a reaction in the second half from Barnsley.
02:00 We know that's going to come.
02:01 It did, it definitely did.
02:06 That is the standard.
02:07 I think that's probably the gold standard, what we saw in the first 25 minutes in particular
02:11 of how we want to perform.
02:12 I think I said it after the game on Saturday, one of my frustrations at Derby was that we
02:16 came away from the game thinking we probably should have won it, away at Derby, one of
02:19 the promotion contenders.
02:20 But I just thought it took us a minute to get into the game.
02:24 It took us probably 25 minutes, half an hour to really kick into gear.
02:28 We didn't quite believe in ourselves enough and that's what we're trying to drum into
02:30 the lads.
02:31 They have the capability to do it, just need to perform consistently.
02:33 You're never going to be able to string 90-minute performances back to back to back.
02:37 There's always going to be some dips, absolutely take that on board.
02:41 What I've seen certainly on Tuesday and actually glimpsed over the last few weeks is what we're
02:46 capable of doing.
02:47 What can you achieve if you do reach that first half standard again?
02:52 I think anything.
02:53 We look at every game now and we think there's points there to be gained from all of them.
02:58 One of the things we struggled with last season was playing against top six sides or potential
03:03 top six sides.
03:04 I certainly think that in the last three matches we've played three sides who, if they're not
03:09 in the top six, they'll definitely be there and thereabouts.
03:11 Peterborough had a couple of really good results off the back of playing us, granted won an
03:15 EFL trophy, obviously defeated Cheltenham the other night handily.
03:22 They've got a very good front line, so a good place to back that up.
03:25 I think the same about Derby and Barnes, I think they're excellent sides.
03:28 It just goes to show that we really do have the capability now of competing with those
03:32 sort of sides at home, away from home.
03:35 We really have to keep going with that and make sure that we show consistency to do it
03:37 throughout the season.
03:38 How important is it to follow up what you've done the last two away games, now back at
03:43 Thretham Park?
03:44 I think for a number of reasons.
03:46 First of all, in terms of trying to build upon what we've actually achieved over the
03:50 first eight games, it's really important we come back here after a little break away from
03:53 Thretham Park and perform well at home.
03:55 We've had a couple of really good away performances and there'll be a lot of expectation.
03:59 I think the crowd will be really buzzing, the atmosphere will be great.
04:03 People will have missed coming and watching football here.
04:05 We've got to take advantage of that, so I think it's really important we string those
04:08 performances together and try and string the results together.
04:11 That's how you build momentum in a season, you have to follow up performances with performances
04:17 again and the schedule is absolutely relentless.
04:20 It doesn't stop, everybody would have realised that having done the travel over the weekend
04:24 and on Tuesday.
04:25 We have to dust ourselves off and go again and also realise that it's just a completely
04:28 different challenge we're going to face on Saturday.
04:31 In terms of injuries, what's the situation with Connor Ogilvie?
04:35 Connor Ogilvie is struggling with his groin, he's going to be touch and go for the weekend.
04:40 We left it off today just to see how it was settled down.
04:43 Still a bit sore, so we will give him a fitness test tomorrow and see how he shapes up.
04:47 He's been such a critical part of everything we've achieved over this, actually everything
04:52 we've done since I came into the football club.
04:54 He only missed one game towards the back end of last year where he didn't play against
04:57 Morecambe at home.
04:58 Apart from that, he's been absolutely flawless in terms of his ability to come in and play
05:03 games.
05:04 Connor is one who is very robust and I'm sure he'll be back as soon as he can.
05:10 There are no other injury concerns from Tuesday night.
05:13 We're still monitoring Christian's progress, he was out on the grass again today.
05:18 We're building him from 50, 60, 70, 80% making sure we don't unduly risk anything.
05:24 It's always a bit of a game of cat and mouse, you don't want to be overly cautious and have
05:26 a player sitting in the stands and not involved when he could be.
05:29 But on the other side, we don't want somebody coming in and trying to go full tilt here
05:33 at home at Fratton and then pulling something.
05:36 Christian is touch and go on that one.
05:37 I think all of the others are the long term ones that we have.
05:41 We're sure Ragge is in good progress.
05:44 Yeah, Ragge should be absolutely fine.
05:46 Sorry, Ragge's trained today so he's absolutely fine.
05:50 That was one that just needed to settle down, he'd just taken a knock on the bottom of his
05:52 foot and I think, like I said, he was willing to dose himself up and get out there but we
05:59 knew we wouldn't really be able to rely on him for any more than maybe 10, 15 minutes
06:03 and we thought at that stage the player is not really fit as much as he wanted to be
06:07 involved so I thought it was the right decision considering he trained today and he's now
06:10 available for the weekend.
06:11 So yeah, those are the short term ones.
06:13 And yeah, the longer term ones are progressing really nicely.
06:15 Kassim's been out on the grass today, Tom Lowry not yet but he's probably a couple of
06:19 weeks away but getting a nice mobility in the knee.
06:23 Anthony Scully, again he's been out on the grass, he's been doing quite a bit and hopefully
06:26 we'll see him within the next couple of weeks.
06:28 Thank you, cheers.