Pompey boss John Mousinho talks to the media ahead of Sunday's trip to the Stadium of Light
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00:00John, 24 hours on, I bet there's still a great feeling of pride in that performance against Swansea yesterday.
00:07Yeah, absolutely. We're realistic about the performance and we know that it was excellent and we got the result as well.
00:16We've got to mix that with the fact that we've got to move on really, really quickly.
00:19So today we were in prepping for the Sunderland game, no real chance to reflect too heavily on the game.
00:25We've got to take a lot of the positives that we displayed the other day and make sure that we nip in by a few of the things that we need to do a bit better as well.
00:32So, yeah, we're always going to do that after games.
00:34We're going to make sure that we do the post-match properly and try and take the good and the bad out of the game.
00:38But at the same time, we've not got long to move on to the Sunderland game and that's what we've done.
00:42What was the most pleasing facet about that performance?
00:45I just think that the physical output and the work rate off the back of a couple of away games.
00:49So the travel had been heavy around Christmas and I just think the emotional drain that I'm sure all the fans feel as well because we're a bit up and down at the moment to say the least.
00:57So I think having the lows of the 29th to bounce back and then to put in the shift that we did on New Year's Day off the back of what was a really disappointing performance and disappointing result at Ashton Gate.
01:07To be able to come back and do that.
01:09And yet we don't want to always be speaking about the bounce back and we don't want to be speaking about having to react off the back of a loss.
01:15But that was all we could do yesterday.
01:17We did it really well and the figures for the physical output were absolutely through the roof.
01:22Sprint distance, high speed distance and total distance as well.
01:25And I thought the lads gave absolutely everything in really difficult conditions as well.
01:28If you bear in mind, we had 30% possession on a very, very heavy, rainy day.
01:34It was really impressive.
01:36You mentioned that you don't want to speak about reactions all the time, but you must be pleased with the bounce back ability that your side do have.
01:42Ultimately, we want to be more consistent and we thought we found that off the back of the Coventry performance and then the Watford performance.
01:50We were really positive going into that.
01:52We didn't find that again for Bristol City, which was unfortunate.
01:55And I guess that's a frustrating thing from my point of view.
01:58We get asked the questions after Bristol City.
02:00All you can do now is react.
02:03What do you think your reaction is going to be at the weekend?
02:05And I always know, fortunately, the reaction is going to be good.
02:09But what I'd like to be speaking about is a couple of consistent performances back-to-back, particularly away from home.
02:14So the big thing for us at the weekend is to make sure that we almost pretend that we've taken a heavy beating yesterday and react as we usually do, like we did yesterday.
02:24That was game 23 of the season, the Championship, so at the halfway mark now.
02:29What will be your overall reflections of the season so far and the start your team have made?
02:33Well, I think you can probably split the season into two halves of that half.
02:37In the first half, we were disappointing in terms of results.
02:41We put in some decent enough performances, but we had the lead away at Leeds and the lead away at Middlesbrough.
02:47We didn't convert them into any points.
02:49Burnley, we probably should have taken a point there.
02:51And the tight home games, we didn't manage to win a game at home until that second half of the first half of the season.
02:57So we did really struggle for those first, I think, 10 games, was it?
03:02Until we actually got the win.
03:04But since then, I think the performance has been pretty good.
03:06It's still been slightly patchy when we played away from home.
03:08But the second quarter of the season so far, I think there's some real positives to build on.
03:13And we put ourselves in a decent enough position, 23 points after 23 games.
03:16And there were probably times in the first half of the season where we didn't look like we were going to be able to do that.
03:21And there were weekends where we did have to win to make sure we won't cut a drift.
03:24And I thought there was a lot of pressure on the game yesterday as well, to be honest.
03:26So, yeah, we don't want to be where we are in the league, absolutely not.
03:30But we've given ourselves a decent enough platform in the second half of the season to push on.
03:34Every team obviously wants to make their home a fortress.
03:36And in recent weeks, that's been the case.
03:38But I suppose now it's translating some of those positive home performances on the road, beginning at some point.
03:43Yeah, and that's something that we do.
03:45Yeah, we do really want to focus on.
03:47And we don't want to just completely rely on our home form, although it's been really good recently.
03:51Because, yeah, that's something that's great when things are going well and we're scoring a lot of goals at home.
03:56We've got to make sure that we do keep on top of that.
03:58And try and add to that away from home and just try and be as solid as we are and have been playing at home in terms of our defensive output at the very, very least.
04:07So, yeah, that's definitely focused for us over the next couple of games.
04:10We've got three away games now on the spin.
04:11So we've got to make sure we do that.
04:13Beginning at Sunderland 2-1 last night against Sheffield United.
04:17Really good against the teams at the top of the table.
04:19They picked up points against any other side in the playoffs.
04:21I suppose you're under no illusion as to how tough a test this is going to be.
04:24Absolutely.
04:25We've played Sunderland once already this season.
04:27They were very comfortable winners at Fratton Park.
04:29And we'll hopefully see a very different side to us by the time that we go and play them on Sunday.
04:33Because I think we've got a very different outlook in terms of the squad, in terms of players, in terms of the way that we're playing as well.
04:38And to be honest, we're always going to game with pressure on our shoulders because we want them in every game.
04:43But the pressure is going to be on Sunderland to go and win the game at home.
04:46We've got a really, really good record.
04:47We can go and play with a bit of freedom, I think.
04:49And the shackle should be off when we go and play these top sides in the division.
04:56I think that doesn't mean we're going to play with this laissez-faire attitude.
05:00But certainly we can maybe relax a bit more into the game, I think, which might help us.
05:04Probably an inconvenience for supports, but the fact it's been moved back to Sunday gives you that extra 24 hours to prepare.
05:09How much is that going to help you on the back of the busy Christmas period?
05:13We'll see on Sunday.
05:14But my gut reaction is that it should help us after the high physical output that we had yesterday.
05:19And even in the losses, to be honest, we've had really high physical output, particularly against Watford.
05:24I think having the extra day for us is going to help, considering the amount of travel that we've had and the amount of travel we've got going forward.
05:31It happens it's going to fall for us in the second half of the season.
05:35I think when we've got a few more back-to-back home games.
05:38We've only had that once so far this season when we had Bristol City and Norwich.
05:41I thought we were very good for both of those.
05:42We've had a lot of back-to-back away games, a lot of travel that we've had.
05:45We've got to deal with that again.
05:46And I think the extra day should help us.
05:48Thank you, Jon.
05:50It's been a rollercoaster season so far, particularly the Christmas period.
05:54How do you stay so even-tempered?
05:57I think there's a lot going on beneath the surface, first of all.
06:00I think that's what I'd say to you.
06:03Certainly after the Bristol City game, the important thing is to try and stay level-headed and not overreact to it.
06:08But certainly underneath, I was far from pleased with the way that we've gone about our business.
06:13Not just from the players' perspective, but the fact that we've got to look at ourselves as staff and as a football club.
06:18What can we do better to make sure that we put better performances and better results in?
06:23Ultimately, that's the way I've always tried to be, whether we're winning games, losing games or drawing games in my two years here so far.
06:29I think if you overreact or underreact at any point, then it can be a problem.
06:34Certainly, I think one of the things that helped is the quick turnaround.
06:37We just didn't have time to dwell on the Bristol City game.
06:39We had to prepare straight away for Swansea.
06:41Prepping for Swansea was tough.
06:42It was really difficult because of how intricate they are in terms of their passing and their rotation.
06:47Maybe that gives you a nice little distraction sometimes.
06:50Maybe if you lose a game and then you've got a big break off the back of that, it can be a bit more difficult.
06:54But obviously, it was back to Pompey at Fratton Park yesterday.
06:58You've been superb at home recently.
07:00Yes, ever since the Preston game, I think we've scored a lot of goals.
07:04The only game I don't think we scored was against Norwich.
07:06I thought we deserved to win that game.
07:08We had a goal disallowed, which I don't think should have been disallowed.
07:11So, yes, that's been really positive.
07:14I think when we have struggled away from home, we've had those home conflicts to come back to.
07:18I think the big focus for us, or one of the focuses for us in the second half of the season, is going to be to marry the two together.
07:24So, make sure that we keep our home form up and we keep making Fratton a really difficult place to play.
07:28But then we need to be a bit better away from home.
07:30We need to make sure that whatever it is that's holding us back away from home,
07:33whatever it is that's making us put in those performances occasionally that just aren't good enough,
07:37we have to put right because we've done it.
07:39We've done it on occasions.
07:40We've been really, really impressive away from home.
07:42Even recently, I thought Watford was one of our better performances away from home this season.
07:45So, we have to make sure we channel that and keep going on that trajectory.
07:49You've had some big defeats away from home as well as good points.
07:52Swansea away, Watford away.
07:54What do you think you need to change about your side to be better away from home?
08:00It's a really good question.
08:01We look at the approach to the game all the time and we think,
08:04have we been a bit too aggressive on the press, for example?
08:07But a lot of the time, we look at it and there's certain mistakes that we make
08:13and I don't think it's necessarily anything hugely to do with, for example,
08:19the way that we press or the way that we set ourselves up tactically.
08:23And that's not taking any blame away from myself and the coaching staff.
08:26We always look at every game and think,
08:27okay, we must have been able to do something better there if we lost 3-0.
08:30But I think actually what we probably need to do is just to react to adversity a bit better.
08:34The Bristol City game is a perfect example.
08:36We were comfortable for 15 minutes, well in the game, no issues whatsoever.
08:40We gave away the goal in really poor circumstances
08:43and then I thought we just went under a bit after that when we didn't need to.
08:46We should have said, fine, we have conceded the goal.
08:49It's disappointing, dust ourselves off and go again.
08:51And if I look at the last two away defeats that we've had,
08:55take Watford out of it, but for the last two heavier away defeats,
08:58we go a goal down and react really, really poorly.
09:00So I think that's a big part of whether we go a goal up, whether we go a goal down,
09:05whatever it is in the game, we've got to keep calmness, level heads and go again
09:11and make sure that we stick to the game plan.
09:13How good is Freddie Potts playing at the moment?
09:15I thought that if you look at the past couple of games,
09:20or the past few games for Freddie, I think he's gone from strength to strength
09:23and I was really impressed with his performance yesterday.
09:25I thought he picked everything up in the middle of the park.
09:27I thought him and Andre worked brilliantly well together.
09:29I thought Doz was excellent as well.
09:31But Freddie certainly looked like every inch of the player that we know he can be.
09:35And we want to keep progressing with that.
09:37We want to keep pushing him on.
09:38We want to keep making sure that he does everything he possibly can
09:41to push himself to become a Premier League player at the back end of the season
09:44when he goes back to West Ham.
09:45And at the minute, I think he's given himself every chance.
09:48You're giving him more responsibility with set-pieces as well as the season's gone on, aren't you?
09:51Yeah, Freddie's got really good delivery, really good technique.
09:53We saw that yesterday and it's certainly a really good option for us to have.
09:57We've got a couple of options in terms of set-piece delivery.
09:59And actually, our set-pieces over the past few weeks,
10:02we've conceded a couple more than we'd have liked to always.
10:05Whenever you concede a set-piece, you think,
10:07oh, that's something we can do a lot better.
10:09But we did it at Bristol City, we did it at Derby.
10:11And we've also looked threatening on the other side of it.
10:13So that comes from the delivery, from attacking the ball well.
10:16And we've got to keep going with that as well.
10:17Do you see him as a future Premier League player?
10:19I don't want to keep any pressure on Freddie.
10:24And I think that's ultimately something that has to be his ambition.
10:28Because he will go back to West Ham at the back end of the season.
10:31And if you're Freddie, he's been there for a while.
10:35I think he's progressed through the levels.
10:37He's done excellently well at 21's level.
10:40He's then gone out on loan and been the shining star,
10:43I think, at Wickham last season.
10:45He's close to one of our better players so far this year as well.
10:48So he's stepped up the level.
10:49And yeah, the next progression for Freddie has to hopefully be,
10:53whether it's next year or maybe the year after,
10:55to be competing for a spot at West Ham.
10:57He's scheduled to be on loan for the season.
11:00Has West Ham indicated they're going to call him back at all?
11:02No, no.
11:03As far as we're concerned, we've got him for the season
11:05and they're really pleased with everything that's going on here.
11:07So you're confident that's going to remain the case?
11:09Yeah.
11:10You always look at it and think, because of Freddie's performances
11:14and the fact that West Ham have had one of those seasons,
11:19I guess, slightly similar to us.
11:20They've been a bit up and down.
11:21They've had a couple of significant defeats, like last weekend.
11:25But I don't see that happening.
11:26They're really pleased with everything that they see here.
11:28So unless anything changes between now and when West Ham have got the recall,
11:33then I don't think that will happen.
11:35In terms of injury, is there anything close to coming back?
11:38Jacob is close to coming back.
11:39He's had a really heavy workload over the past couple of weeks.
11:42So we've just taken him out of the training group for the last couple of days.
11:44We'll see how he is.
11:45What we don't want to do is risk anything with Jacob as he's coming back.
11:49But it was really pleasing to see Jordan back in the fold yesterday.
11:52Jordan trained again today.
11:53He's looking good.
11:54So those are the two that are imminent.
11:57Mark's the closest in behind that one.
12:00Mark's been out.
12:01He's been at it.
12:02Hopefully, we're going to see him back in training within the next week.
12:06We're constantly monitoring Shox and Regan.
12:10I don't think they're too far away.
12:13I've put timescales on the pair of them before
12:15and it hasn't actually worked out to be the case.
12:17So I'm reluctant to do that again.
12:19But we're making sure that we push them as hard as we possibly can
12:23to get back into the side without risking anything.
12:26With all those injuries, are you expecting them all to be back by the end of January?
12:31If you take all of those injuries, yeah,
12:33I would expect them to be back by the end of January.
12:36I think the only ones that you wouldn't necessarily see before the end of January,
12:39we know about Van being out for the season.
12:42I think the other one that we…
12:44Cassini might be a bit…
12:45Cassini's still in the knee brace.
12:46So he's got a couple more weeks in the knee brace that he has to complete
12:50before he's ready to get back and actually start that formability in the knee.
12:54So, unless I've missed anyone else,
12:56I think those are the ones that, yeah, as we've mentioned previously,
13:00we should expect to see back before the end of the month.