Pompey boss John Mousinho talks to The News ahead of Saturday's visit of QPR to Fratton Park.
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00:00QPR game at the weekend, first of all we should start on Callum Lange, how is he at the moment?
00:07Not great news on Callum, the scan has come back as we suspected with a hamstring tear
00:12and we're going to rescan it in about 10 days just to see how it's settled down, there's
00:16a lot of fluid there at the moment but it's most likely we're not going to see Callum
00:20in a Portsmouth shirt until next season. A bit of a strange one because after the game
00:25he was okay, he was up and about, he's still actually up and about now, it's not really
00:28affecting him a huge amount but just the nature and the location of the injury means
00:33it's going to be a long one.
00:35Did you have your fears of the nature of it when it happened as well because he was running?
00:39You always do when someone pulls up like that and Greg Lee did the same thing in the first
00:44half and I'm not entirely sure but I think it's a very, very similar injury so there
00:47might have been some, not blame, you can't really blame anyone, but some reason or proportion
00:54to the fact it was such a stop-start game with all the stoppages played going in and
00:57out. When that happens you do get the muscular injuries particularly with the way the pitches
01:01are at the moment so both sides have picked up a very, very similar injury. I wasn't happy
01:07with it at the time because hamstring injuries can be like that but after the game I was
01:12a bit more positive than I was on Shox's one because of how the players are moving.
01:16How does that impact your season?
01:18Well I think we've got to be able to deal with it, we can sit here and bemoan bad luck
01:23but it happens, every side's dealing with a lot of injuries at the moment and we've
01:26picked up an injury to a really key player, Calum scored 10 goals this season, he's going
01:30to end up having scored 10 goals, played 30-odd games, been a massive part of what we're trying
01:34to achieve this year and it's the next man up who's going to have to do the job,
01:37you have to fill in and we've got a squad to be able to deal with that, that's the whole
01:40reason we brought in the players we brought in in January and we've got to get on with
01:43it and make sure that it doesn't affect us.
01:45How do you cope without him in terms of selection?
01:47Well we've got plenty of options I think, that's the positive thing, there are players
01:52that have played in there as a 10, you've got Adeel who came in over the past three
01:56games, played as a 10, Christian's done a really, really good job there for us over
02:00the past few seasons, I think Cade can do a similar job as well and we've got options.
02:05But obviously Calum's a very different player to others in the squad isn't he?
02:08Yeah and again, one of the reasons that we wanted to sign players in January, we felt
02:13that and so with the front four in particular, at the time there were plenty of games where
02:18we didn't feel that we could change and we didn't have a huge amount of depth to come
02:22in underneath that and now it feels a bit different.
02:24I think we've got other options and we can deal with injuries, we can deal with drops
02:27in form, we can rotate during games like we did towards the back end of the Oxford game
02:32and not get weaker.
02:34You rotated the team recently because you were afraid of players getting injured, is
02:38this one of the cases of what you're concerned about happening through how much work it gets
02:42through in a game and how much the team's relied on him?
02:45Yeah, absolutely.
02:45So Calum was a player that didn't play in the two games where he really rotated at Bristol
02:50City and West Brom, so Calum was left out, rested for both of those games.
02:55We tried as best we could to obviously handle that but there's a load of factors that come
03:00into it.
03:00There's Calum's work rate, there's the amount he's put in this season, there are the heavy
03:04pitches with all the rainfall, there's the stop-start nature of the game at the weekend
03:07and sometimes it's just a bit of bad luck and that's just one of the things that we
03:11have tried to protect against.
03:12So when we've changed the teams, I actually have felt in general there's been a really
03:16good understanding of why we've done that and we don't want things like this to happen
03:21but it does go to show that sometimes you do need to rotate.
03:26How's Freddie Potts?
03:27Fred's okay.
03:30He's slightly slower on the progress than we would have hoped but we're still looking
03:35at whether he's available for this weekend or not so hopefully we can get him out on
03:38the grass Friday in serious.
03:40Could you give him a little bit extra time considering you've won your last two games
03:43without him?
03:44The issue with the six loans, can you give him that now?
03:47Yeah, probably take the loans out of it.
03:49We wouldn't want that clouding any decision making but certainly with sometimes it happens
03:54you probably don't want to make decisions off the back of that but if you feel like
03:57you don't have to rush a player back and you can give him an extra couple of days,
04:01particularly with a muscular injury, then it does help if you're coming off the back
04:04of a couple of wins and you're probably settled in certain positions anyway.
04:08So that does come into it definitely but as soon as Fred is fit we're not going to
04:13hold him back.
04:14I suppose your recruitment in January window strengthens the squad so you can afford not
04:19to rush him back can't you?
04:21Yeah, I mean we want Fred back as soon as possible.
04:23We definitely want Fred back as soon as possible.
04:25He's been brilliant this year and he's played again pretty much every game that he's been
04:28available for apart from the ones where we've actually rested him.
04:30So Fred's been a pivotal part of what we're trying to achieve and when you have that squad
04:37depth I think maybe where we were six or eight weeks ago it might have been different
04:42but we're in a different position now.
04:44Do you try not to concern yourself with the six-loan ruling at the moment because it's
04:48going to be a nightmare when everyone's fit and available?
04:50Yeah, it's one of those where we just have to make a decision based on what we think
04:53is going to be the best team selection, the best squad selection for any match day and
04:56I think everybody involved knows that and straight away we were happy making the decision
05:02and I was happy making the decision that I'm going to have to deal with that if we've got
05:05all six fit and we've then gone into a situation where Fred's been injured so we've brought
05:11Mark in.
05:11Mark's come in, he's made a difference so it's felt like it's a good decision at the
05:16minute and we just have to handle that between now and the end of the season.
05:19Conor Ogilvie, he's grown through the season.
05:24How has it happened do you feel?
05:25I just think sometimes it takes a bit of adjustment, Conor having had such a, I would describe
05:30it as a stellar career through League One and how good he's been at the level for so
05:36many years to get his chance in the Championship and take it, probably took him a few games
05:40to adjust but he's really adjusted really well.
05:42It can't have been easy all of a sudden on the opening day facing Dan James who I think
05:46is far, he's way above the level and everything else that came with the onslaught at Ellum
05:54Road and it was sort of winger after winger from that point, whether it was Dan James,
05:59Cole Oshie, whoever it was, I thought Conor really grew into it and so we've seen some
06:04performances at the back end, or certainly, sorry, we've seen performances at the front
06:07end of this year where he looks very, very comfortable at the level and so I put it down
06:12to adjusting to the level, I put it down to Conor's professionalism and also the team's
06:16got better around him as well.
06:17Has he had to work on things in training, has he had to watch videos, what's he done?
06:22Not a huge amount, not changing a huge amount, it's just slight adjustments here and there
06:27really, just slight adjustments to how he deals with wingers, making sure we show them
06:30a certain way.
06:31I think the compactness and the defensive solidity of the team has definitely helped
06:35him.
06:36Having Murph in front of him with the output that Murph has in terms of his defensive work
06:41definitely helps as well so just a few minor tweaks here and there and sometimes it just
06:44takes players a minute to settle into the league.
06:47How well is he playing at the moment?
06:49Yeah, he's in really good form.
06:52Defensively is the most important thing with Conor, we want him to make sure that he's
06:55a really, really good defender and he starts there, that's the base of everything that
06:59he does.
06:59But we know Conor's always been an attacking threat from set-pieces and from opportunities
07:05at the back post and we're trying to get him in a couple of different positions now as
07:07well, particularly with Murph out on the left.
07:09So there's been an adjustment to how he's trying to play his game and how we want him
07:12to play his game from last year and I think he's taken it to really well.
07:16Is it fair to, considering his age and experience, is it fair to describe him as Pompey's most
07:20improved player this season?
07:21I don't know, I haven't thought about that at all.
07:23And so that's something that I can't remember if there's a category like that back in the
07:28season, but if there is then I think there'll be a few that have really improved over the
07:33season.
07:33But Conor's been great, you've got to take age out of it really, it's about players that
07:38maybe have played at this level for the first time consistently and Conor's done that,
07:42he's taken the bull by the horns and he's done really well.
07:44And do you now consider him a championship player?
07:47Well, I think we'll, I've got every confidence in him starting in the championship every
07:51week, so yes, I absolutely do.
07:54I think that he's then got to take that and prove it to himself by making sure that when
07:58we speak again in July, he is a championship player.
08:01I think that's the most important thing, you earn that, you earn the right to be a
08:04championship player, a championship coach, a championship club by staying in the league
08:07and making sure that you earn your space.
08:08So yeah, good things have happened so far, particularly in the last week and we've just
08:12still got a hell of a long way to go, so I don't want anyone sort of patting ourselves
08:15on the back and congratulating ourselves too early, we've still got a lot of work to do.
08:18I was looking at your result against QPR in the season, which was the first championship
08:21win, as a team the starting 11 has changed a lot and as a team you're a lot better as
08:28well in that period, isn't it?
08:30I think so and that always happens, if you ever look at the starting line-up for the
08:34first game of the season or early in the season, compare it to later on, there's always going
08:37to be a lot of changes, we try and hammer that point home to the players when there's
08:40that huge disappointment maybe of not getting in the starting line-up in the first day of
08:44the year.
08:44Things change very, very quickly.
08:46Conor Shockless was the prime example of that last season and we need players to stay at
08:51it and I think we've improved as a team as well, we've changed as a team, we've definitely
08:55changed the way that we play, we've changed the outlook.
08:57After that QPR game, we then had a really disappointing result on Tuesday against Cardiff
09:01because we probably weren't quite at it in terms of consistency and again, we've got
09:05to try and show that and prove that as a team, we have won two games but by no means have
09:09we cracked it, we're still in a position where we need to pick up loads more points
09:13and we need to be right on it, we need to be banging on it again against a very, very
09:16good side at the weekend.
09:17Why do you feel you're a better team since then?
09:19I think we've certainly got a bit more defensively solid, that's where I think when we've been
09:24poor this year, we've let ourselves down, conceding too many goals.
09:27Scoring goals hasn't been a huge issue for us this year but we've conceded far too many
09:32so we've tried to focus on that defensive salinity, get the press right, get a few of
09:36the defensive details right, I think that's really helped and I think that's built a bit
09:39of confidence for us going forward as well.
09:41There's a load of factors, I think there's a load of factors but we feel like we are
09:45a stronger and a better team but again, we've got to prove ourselves, we can't think that,
09:49we can't speak about it.
09:50I'm sure QPR are looking at all of the things they can do to try and exploit us so we've
09:54got to attack the game at the weekend and make sure we sort of reset, we don't get too
10:00carried away with what we've done over the last week because we haven't achieved anything
10:04yet and go again.
10:05Do you feel you've got a stronger starting line-up as well?
10:08I can't quite pick out what the starting line-up is against QPR but I think my gut instinct
10:14at the moment, starting line-up or away from starting line-up is the squad is stronger
10:19and that is the most important thing so having that strength in the squad is the most important
10:23thing and I definitely feel we've improved since then.
10:26And obviously a home game as well when you're very strong at home.
10:29Yeah, I mean again, you've got to balance it off with how good QPR have been over the
10:34past 17 games and make sure that we don't take that for granted.
10:38We have that strong form at home, really, really good against Burnley, not quite so
10:42good against Cardiff but we got the result anyway so we know that being at home is going
10:46to give us a huge boost and again, we've got to make sure that we attack those home
10:49games properly.
10:50We can't just show up and expect to win because we're at Fratton Park.
10:53And finally, the remaining injured players, how's Kassidy Yengi?
10:56Yeah, Kassidy's back in full training so he's available for the weekend.
10:59When can he be under consideration for a seam duty?
11:02For QPR.
11:03Okay, and Jordan Williams?
11:05Jordan, not quite as close as Kassidy, still a couple of weeks away.
11:08I think that's on schedule, I'll have to check that but yeah, Jordan is not quite there yet.
11:14Any other injuries?
11:15No others, no others obviously apart from Callum and Shox.
11:19If we can get Shox back for the last few games of the season, I think that'll be great.