Pompey boss John Mousinho gives the latest update from Fratton Park and previews the Championship clash with Coventry City.
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00:00I think a bit of both, I think we have to make sure that we address some of the shortcomings
00:22from Friday night but at the same time I don't think that any of the issues that we had Friday
00:26night have been anything that's been plaguing us over recent weeks so it doesn't really feel like
00:30something we have to dwell on for too long. Definitely have to make some tweaks and improve
00:35certain things because we just weren't good enough on the night, we didn't defend well enough as a
00:39starting point which is something we've been very very good at over recent weeks, keeping clean
00:43sheets and making it really difficult for sides to play and score against us. So I think as a
00:49basis of where we're trying to build this week we have to get those bits right but that's no
00:53different from what we've been doing going into the Bristol City game for example where we
00:57were really focused on that defensive solidity in the press and we'll be doing more of that
01:01this week. You mentioned in a post-match interview about players and staff getting
01:05it a bit wrong on Friday, what has the reflection process looked like since? Yeah I don't think
01:10there's any, when you lose four nil away from home or at home or whenever you lose
01:14games by that margin inevitably there's things that everybody's got wrong and
01:19it's very very rarely one thing, it's very rarely shape, tactics, individual players,
01:24the collective, it usually is everything together and I think that was the case on Friday night,
01:29I think everybody got things wrong, I don't think the players performed well enough,
01:32I think as obviously as staff we didn't get our game plan right and that's something that we have
01:36to look at and we have to address and we have to make sure we get right going into the weekend.
01:41That game was played on a Friday night so an extra day to prep for Coventry this weekend,
01:45is there much of a benefit to having that extra day in your opinion?
01:49No no I don't think so, I don't think it makes an enhanced difference at all and we started our prep
01:54yesterday, we would have done anyway if we had the game on Saturday, I think the only difference
01:59we've made was one day less rest at the back end of the last week but Derby had the same so no issue
02:04there. Regan Paul was 50-50 heading into the game with Pryor Park on Friday and was an unused sub,
02:09is he now fully fit potentially ready for the weekend? He hasn't trained yet so we'll see how
02:15he is tomorrow and possibly Friday, so one of those that we're being cautious with Regan because
02:20of the nature of the injury and because of the fact it's on the side where he had the hamstring
02:26graft so we just have to be a bit careful and delicate with that but we'll know a bit more on
02:30Friday. For a third successive game we saw Zach Swanson come off the bench and get some game time,
02:35what have you taken from his performances in recent weeks? I think that the second half on Friday I
02:42still don't think anybody performed well enough to really warrant anything other than what we
02:47got which was we lost the second half 1-0 but it could have been a bit more and
02:51everybody on the pitch was part of that at the time, I don't think it was good enough.
02:54I think apart from that when Zach's come on, when he's been back involved I think he's
02:58contributed really well, I think in particular because he's been coming on that position and
03:02really solidifying things when he's been playing. I'm often playing
03:08high and wide on the right and I'm really pleased that we've been able to bring Zach in because he
03:11is a versatile player and before he got injured I thought he was doing really well on the side.
03:15As far as injury is concerned, anything new to report from last week at all?
03:20No nothing, we've still got the same injuries that we were missing out on, Regan's obviously
03:26a concern for the weekend but apart from that everything's the same and we don't have anything
03:29imminent at the moment. Coventry City up next with Frank Lampard in charge, even with a small
03:34sample size of just four games in charge, what do you know about the way they play and the challenges
03:39you expect to face on Saturday? Well we've had obviously only four games so far,
03:46a couple of wins in there, a couple of good wins, a couple of really good performances and
03:50to be honest I watched them up at the Hawthorns about 10 days ago and I thought they were excellent
03:55on the night, really didn't deserve to lose the game, created a lot of chances but just didn't put
03:58them in the back of the net and West Brom ended up winning the game 2-0. So I think that Coventry
04:02have been a side that have been challenging at this level for a number of years now, been really
04:05competitive, just lost out in the player final a couple of years ago on penalties and in terms of
04:11what Mark had done previously, they built a very successful squad and team and football club
04:17from the ground up in terms of where Coventry were. So I think that they've still got a lot of
04:25that strength in their base and the squad and they play some really good football and I think Frank's
04:30come in and certainly from the games that I've seen, the West Brom game and watching them at
04:34the weekend where I thought they were by far the best side against Hull, I think there's
04:38it's going to be a really good game of football and they're certainly going to give us a challenge.
04:43This is the first of four games coming up in space, just 11 days across the Christmas and New Year
04:47period. What kind of impact does that have when it comes to preparing for each match because
04:52both on the training pitch and I guess from an analysis point of view as well?
04:56I think all it means is that you don't get a huge amount of time to work on things and the training
04:59pitch is much more classroom based, we'll be in here a lot more and we have to make sure we get
05:03it right in terms of the physical preparation. I think in an ideal world we'd have a week to
05:08prepare for every game, I think when we've done that we've looked good going into games
05:13but to be honest on the same token if we've had a quick turnaround we've played well off the back
05:16of that as well so we have to make sure that we're prepared for that. I think we've got a busy
05:20schedule, we've obviously got a busy schedule coming up and there's two things really, that
05:24mental tactical preparation that we have to get right and then the physical side of it
05:27and that's going to be really important with the squad that we've got.
05:31Was Derby even more infuriating bearing in mind how well the team had played the
05:36previous six matches and appeared to have turned a corner? Yes and no because
05:44on one hand it was a surprise and we'd been playing really well going into it
05:49and that did make it frustrating because I thought we had every chance of
05:52getting a result at Derby but by the same token I think some of the games that we've gone into
05:55and lost I've come out the back of it more concerned about the performance because it's
06:01not been a one-off if that makes sense and maybe that's been, certainly the performance
06:07on Friday just hadn't been building, it didn't seem like it'd been coming so there's definitely
06:10things we need to get better but I think the more concerning one is when if we'd have conceded
06:15four off the back of conceding, off the back of losing games, off the back of doing whatever we've
06:19been doing but we came off the pitch on Friday night having conceded four and lost the game
06:23off the back of two excellent clean sheets at home against two really good sides in the league.
06:28Now you've had a chance to watch the video back, what do you think of Tom McIntyre's performance?
06:33I mean when we watched the whole thing back I don't think anybody played well enough to
06:40warrant a pat on the back and Tom will hold his hands up and certainly knows that he can
06:45do better than what he did on the night and he's part of a back four that obviously conceded
06:50four goals so there's plenty to improve upon and the good thing that we've got in the changing
06:55room at the moment is players that are honest about their own performances so it's not been
06:59anything that I've had to overly address because players know they need to do better.
07:03Yeah I mean he shouldn't be singing out just for his performance, it was a team performance
07:08obviously. With Tom it's been up and down this season though hasn't it, he's had some really
07:12good games, remember QPR away so you know what he's capable of. Yeah that's the reason we brought
07:17Tom into the building, not just for the potential of helping us to get out of League One which is
07:22what we did in January but also because we thought it'd be a good long-term purchase and a player
07:26that's played a number of games in the Championship prior to signing for us and Captain
07:31Reading in the Championship a number of times and we know Tom can play at that level, it's I think
07:34about this year getting that consistency back in his game and you know Tom's had a long time out
07:39with the injuries, overall it would be I think seven months in between when he got the injury
07:43in January and when he started his first game this season and I think that's probably taking
07:47its toll as well as you've seen with the likes of Regan in terms of the physicality and
07:51the amount of games that we've asked these players to play and I think that's a really
07:56good learning curve for Tom to get on top of and make sure his performance is improved.
08:01How's his confidence at the moment? I think he's fine, I think everybody
08:07here is just realistic about the position that we're in and I don't see a team that's lacking
08:12in confidence, I don't see individuals that are lacking in confidence, I see individuals in the
08:16team that's realistic about the way they want to go about their business and the way that they want
08:21to try and get out of the position we're in and I think that's a real positive. There were
08:28probably times this season when externally we've been written off after poor results and we've put
08:34together a few really good results, got ourselves out of the relegation zone unfortunately not for
08:37long enough but now we're in a really good position where if we do win games and if we
08:41do put results together back-to-back then we climb the league. You mentioned about how you'd be
08:45looking to get a centre-half in January, what sort of attributes are you looking for in a centre-half?
08:51Are you looking for somebody that's experienced? Someone who's quick, strong, can head the ball
08:59and can handle the ball as well, is a good leader and has played loads of games in the Championship
09:04or the Premier League, that would be ideal. Easy! That was one of the things whenever
09:09you're looking to recruit any player, you look at all these different attributes in terms of
09:12what you could get. Sometimes the position that we're in,
09:19and this is true for every club in this league, we're not Man City, we can't just go and pick
09:23the best player out in the world out there. We've got to take good players, if good players
09:28are available, if that's an experienced player, if that's a young player, if it's someone whose
09:32attributes really suit one thing, I think we have to be realistic about what we can get so
09:37we're looking for overall the attribute, if you can call this an attribute, is a player that's
09:42going to come in and affect the starting XI. That's the most important thing for us, when we
09:45bring a centre-half in, is a player that comes in and affects the starting XI.
09:48So if someone's come straight into the first team?
09:51Yes, but if not, for whatever reason, certainly have that capability to do that. So the difference
09:56between that and bringing someone, I think, as a centre-half in January, if we did do it,
10:04that we're looking to develop longer term. Are there players of that type around?
10:09I think there's a few. I think what we'll see more so over the next couple of weeks,
10:13because you've still got a lot of football to play between now and the window,
10:18is things that start to develop with players that may be available for loan,
10:23and players that haven't got a huge amount of minutes at their respective levels, and
10:27we're pretty confident on our list at the moment.
10:29I say realistically, are you looking at a loan?
10:31I don't know. I don't know. There are options for both. So there are options for loans and
10:35there are options for permanents in the centre-half market.
10:37Sammy Silvera has not been in the squad in the last game.
10:42What does he need to do to get back into the plans?
10:45Yes, I mean, Sammy just picked up a minor injury. That's what prevented him from travelling up to
10:49Derby and he hasn't trained for the last couple of days. I still think it's a fair question
10:52because Sammy hasn't been in the starting line-up and he's not been in a couple of squads. I think
10:57the most important thing for Sammy is to train as well as he possibly can, day in,
11:03day out, is to make sure that he affects the group on a daily basis, and then if and when
11:08he does come in, and if and when he does come on, be ready to affect games. That's what we're
11:11looking for with Sammy and with wingers. First of all, for defensive reliability, particularly
11:17the way we're trying to press, and if he can make something happen off the back of that, then
11:21certainly he'll give himself a much better chance of playing.
11:23Have you been disappointed with his contributions so far?
11:26I don't think so. I think that it's been a difficult season for everyone, to be honest.
11:29If you look at the output from all of our wingers, realistically, Merce got a few goals,
11:34Matt got his first goal up at Swansea. We're still looking for goals from plenty of other
11:38positions across that front-line in particular, or plenty of other players across that front-line
11:42in particular. It's just the nature of the season, I think. We've got faith that Sammy
11:46will kick into gear and he needs to obviously work hard on things that he knows he needs to
11:51work on himself and we'll try and support him in that.
11:54What can he give more, do you feel?
11:56I just want to mention there, really, whenever we do call upon him, make sure he gives us that
12:01defensive reliability and that solidity. He's been out of the side through various issues here and
12:07there, sometimes injury, sometimes form, but making sure that when he does come in, as an absolute
12:13minimum, we can rely on him to understand the press, we can rely on him to work hard out of
12:17possession. Ultimately, the big reason that we brought Sammy in is for his quality. If he can
12:22give us a bit more in terms of assisting goals on the other side of it, then he'll give himself
12:25a really good chance.
12:26And you previously mentioned you're expecting him to stay for the remainder of the season?
12:29Yeah, I think so. There's no reason why he shouldn't and I think Sam's still in the infancy
12:34of his career at Portsmouth and it's probably not been exactly as he would have hoped, but
12:40there's plenty of time left.
12:42You mentioned Regan then, is he in training at the moment?
12:45He hasn't trained yet this week. I don't think he'll train tomorrow. We might look at him Friday
12:50but if not, I think he's not ready for Friday. We'll scan him and see where he is off the back
12:55of that.
12:57Finally, Conor's shockingly healthy at the moment?
13:00Shocked is okay. We're looking at about three more weeks until he's back in full training.
13:04So, are we looking at next year then for him?
13:06Early January, yeah.
13:07I think you said a while ago that wasn't expected.
13:09Yeah, and we'll be cautious with him anyway because of the nature of the injury and the
13:13fact that by the time it comes out of January, he'd have been out for about five months.
13:17When he does come back to full training, how soon can he be considered for duty,
13:22bearing in mind he's been out for so long?
13:25Yeah, good question. I mean, I think when he first came back, he obviously went straight
13:29into the team but he hadn't actually been out that long. So, with the second stint
13:34and having two injuries since then, I think it's more important for us to take our time
13:40with him. I would probably say realistically, we're going to need two to three weeks with
13:43him on the training pitch.
13:45And obviously, a huge player to bring back as well?
13:48Yeah, massive player. He started 45 games last year.
13:52EFL team of the season, PFA team of the season, I think one of the players of the year in
14:00certain categories and on top of all of that, scored some huge goals for us as well. So,
14:06yeah, we've really missed him, I'd say, this year.
14:09Any other players likely to be back for Coventry at all?
14:11No, no one else back for Coventry. A couple that are close, Jordan Williams and Jacob
14:15Farrell. Jordan should be back for the Boxing Day game, if not available for the game, but
14:20back in training and then Jacob about a week later.