Pompey v Coventry: John Mousinho press conference

The News, Portsmouth

Pompey boss John Mousinho talks to The News ahead of the Blues' game home game against Coventry on Tuesday night.

Transcript

00:01John, obviously looking ahead to the game on Tuesday against Coventry City, how difficult will that be?

00:06It'll be a really good challenge for us, I think, to see what lessons we can take from Leicester,

00:13what we can take from Middlesbrough, how positive those two performances are,

00:16and to see if we can actually build upon that against the best side in the league

00:19who are flying high at the top of the table undefeated.

00:21So, yeah, it's going to be a good challenge, to be honest.

00:24We come up against them every single week, not necessarily at this level,

00:27but they're always tough, tough games.

00:30Last season, you beat them, and then there was that heartbreak, wasn't it, at their place?

00:34Yeah, we had really fond memories, I think, of the results at Fratton Park,

00:39particularly going a goal down, the fact that Lange scored four in the day.

00:42It made it a special day.

00:45We weren't actually very good in the first half.

00:46We could have gone two goals down, I think.

00:48Norman Bissette missed a chance to go 2-0, but then we go into the game

00:51and we were magnificent in the second half, and I thought we were well worth a point

00:55up at their place as well, and it was just that run of games where we kept conceding late,

00:58and that was as late as it comes.

01:01We nearly scored the other end with the Coen Bramwell chance,

01:03and all of a sudden the ball's in the back of the net with ten seconds to go.

01:06So, yeah, a lot of heartache there, but I don't think those two games

01:09we've got any relevance on tomorrow.

01:11It was just agony, seeing nearly every player on the floor when that goal went in.

01:15Yeah, we worked so hard against a really good side, ultimately,

01:18a side that finished in the playoffs, and, yeah, would have been rude their luck,

01:23I think, in terms of not getting to the final and maybe not going up,

01:26and they've come back this year and showed that they've got that quality

01:28without actually making too many additions at all.

01:32So, they had the quality last year, they've got it again this year,

01:34but, yeah, at the time, because of the nature of it

01:37and because of where we were in the league at the time,

01:39it was a sort of double hammer, bro.

01:42Coventry are rightly promotion favourites, you'd say?

01:45Yeah, they're top of the league, they're the best side.

01:47They're undefeated in 10 games, top scorers, so, yeah, it makes a lot of sense to me.

01:55We saw what you did with Leeds last year here, Middlesbrough, last home game as well.

02:00What is it about Pompey being the underdogs at Threaten Park?

02:03I don't know.

02:04I mean, for the majority of the season last year, we were the underdogs in games anyway,

02:08and I think that helped us towards the back end of the season in particular.

02:10I think we relished the challenge, and we've relished the challenge

02:14since coming up into the Championship.

02:15It's been a very different challenge to what it was in League One.

02:18I think, you know, our home form last year was excellent.

02:21This year, we're trying to build on that.

02:23We're trying to build a much better home form,

02:25and we had that going into the international break,

02:27so that's going to be a really good thing for us to try and push on

02:29with the next couple of games.

02:30I don't know.

02:31I don't know if it's the level of support that we get.

02:33The boys feeling comfortable at Threaten,

02:35and probably a number of factors, I think, that work in our favour there,

02:40and, you know, we've just got to make sure that we leverage those as much as possible,

02:43take advantage of them and make it difficult for Coventry tomorrow night.

02:46Any change in injury at Threaten at all?

02:48No, nothing.

02:49They'll be the same squad to select from tomorrow night as there was Saturday,

02:53and, yeah, no new injury concerns from the weekend.

02:56So Josh Murphy, still not available at this point?

02:58Yeah, Josh will be back for the Stoke game, hopefully,

03:00unless anything changes between now and then.

03:02You said about that last time, that Stoke game.

03:05That's still looking realistic for him.

03:07That looks realistic.

03:08He was back out on the grass today.

03:09If everything goes as we hope it will,

03:13then, you know, this is the first time that Josh has had that injury

03:15that he's been properly back out on the grass training.

03:18So we're pretty confident he'll be ready.

03:21If there's any doubt, of course, we've got another week,

03:25but we're hopeful for the weekend.

03:27And Harvey Blair?

03:28Harvey is not going to be available for tomorrow,

03:31hopefully for the weekend,

03:33just being cautious with a hamstring injury.

03:35Young, obviously, has been phenomenal the last three games.

03:39You said at the start of the season,

03:40you've got to be patient with a lot of these people,

03:42especially young lads.

03:45What has he done in training to turn it around as well?

03:49Well, he's trained well since he came in.

03:51That's never been an issue with Minjuk.

03:54He's trained very well since he came into the building.

03:55I think the acid test, obviously,

03:59is what you produce on the football pitch.

04:01And like you said there, being patient with the young lads.

04:03You've got to be patient with any young lad,

04:04you've got to be patient with an 18, 19-year-old

04:06a lot of the time,

04:07particularly when Minjuk's only been in the country

04:09for 10 months.

04:10Massive adjustment for him coming over to QPR

04:13in the first place.

04:14And then being away with Spurs pre-season

04:16and coming to us is a big adjustment again.

04:18And that was the main level of caution.

04:20It was never wrong whether we thought

04:21Minjuk could have an impact or not.

04:23It was the fact that he hadn't had a full pre-season.

04:25I've spoken about this before.

04:27Spurs had used him in a certain way in pre-season.

04:30Absolutely fine.

04:31We've done the same thing with one of the younger players.

04:33You take him away on tour.

04:34They don't necessarily get the exposure

04:35that he may have done if he was with us

04:37for an extended period.

04:38And yeah, sometimes with the 21s

04:41that come out of the Premier League sides

04:43at the back end,

04:44it just takes a minute for them to get going.

04:45And I thought that was the case with Minjuk.

04:47He's trained well.

04:48He's kept his head down.

04:50Ultimately, the big thing for Minjuk

04:52is when he got his chance,

04:53he took it.

04:54I thought he was bright against Ipswich,

04:55bright enough to earn the start against Watford.

04:57And then what we've seen since then

04:58has been some really good football.

04:59I remember Ritchie saying

05:01the first international break

05:02around that time

05:03that he'll be staying with you guys

05:04and that'll be important

05:05to get some more work done with him

05:07on the training pitch.

05:08Yeah, we love lads going away

05:12on international duty

05:14because I think it represents

05:15the good work that they've done.

05:17And I think they're all proud members

05:21of whatever country these guys play for.

05:23No issue with that.

05:25Sometimes, you know,

05:26when you go away,

05:27you play a couple of games.

05:28It's good for,

05:29I think it's good for fitness levels.

05:30You look at Mackenzie Kirk last week,

05:32played a couple of games

05:33for Northern Ireland

05:34and that worked really well for us.

05:36We've had other players

05:37that have gone away

05:37and haven't played

05:38and they've come back

05:38without much of a training load

05:40and it's been difficult

05:41to get them going again.

05:41So we wanted to keep Minjuk

05:42for that first break.

05:44When he went away

05:45with the career 22s,

05:46this break,

05:47he actually played a couple of games,

05:48trained nicely.

05:49So even though we didn't get him

05:49back till late,

05:50it was quite a good return.

05:51Probably want one of the two

05:52with the players.

05:52Does he look different now

05:54in training

05:54when he first arrived then?

05:56Could you see that?

05:57I think just a little bit fitter,

05:59a little bit sharper.

05:59Those are the main differences.

06:01It's always different.

06:03Whatever level you go into,

06:05you've always got to adjust

06:05to the level.

06:06If you've been at the Championship

06:08in the Premier League,

06:09if you dropped down

06:10all of a sudden

06:10and played in the National League,

06:12it's a different pace,

06:13it's a different type of game.

06:15Just to give an example

06:15of how it doesn't matter

06:16what level you've been training at

06:18because you've been training

06:18at such a high level with Spurs

06:19and coming back

06:20and doing things differently here,

06:22the way that we like to operate,

06:23the way that the Championship

06:24is in terms of the schedule,

06:25just would all have taken

06:26a little bit of adjustment.

06:28So I think just in terms

06:29of fitness and sharpness,

06:30those are the main differences.

06:32How have they fitted in

06:33in terms of the language barrier

06:35as well?

06:36He understands English

06:37very, very well.

06:38I'm still getting better

06:39at speaking

06:40and getting more confident.

06:41To be honest,

06:42I think it's more of a confidence

06:43thing than anything else.

06:44And I understand that.

06:45Again,

06:45you've got a really young lad,

06:48very, very respectful

06:49and very quiet anyway,

06:51naturally very quiet,

06:52but he's quickly becoming

06:53quite popular.

06:55He was popular anyway

06:57before he'd come in

06:58and had the impact

06:59and the lads had taken

07:00really well to him.

07:01But now,

07:02obviously when you have

07:03that contribution on the pitch,

07:05it probably helps as well

07:06in terms of that integration.

07:07But he's coming on

07:08very, very, very nicely.

07:09If he was sitting

07:10and listening to this,

07:11I think he would understand

07:12everything I'm saying.

07:13I know he does

07:14when I'm up against the screen

07:15because he looks like

07:16he takes everything on board

07:17and I'm sure we'll keep

07:18getting him out of his shell

07:19and in a few months

07:20we'll hear more and more from him.

07:23Is he living with someone

07:24at the moment?

07:25How's he doing?

07:26I know he's on his own,

07:28which is absolutely fine,

07:29but he's got plenty

07:30of people around him.

07:32There's plenty of contact

07:33with his family,

07:33his agent,

07:34always over

07:36and always making sure

07:37that Minhoek's

07:38settling in nicely

07:39and he's struck up

07:41a couple of friendships

07:41with the boys as well.

07:42So that's one of the good things

07:44that I'm living in Portsmouth

07:45is everybody does live

07:46fairly close by

07:48and we've got a young enough group

07:49to have that sort of camaraderie

07:52in the togetherness.

07:53With three games in eight days,

07:55this against three

07:57very good sides, obviously,

07:58could you rotate it at all?

08:00How would you handle that?

08:01Yeah, we definitely can.

08:02We've got the options

08:03to do that from the bench.

08:05I think we've kept

08:06the same starting line-up

08:07for the last three games,

08:09which is quite rare,

08:10quite rare for anybody

08:11or quite rare for me

08:12in particular.

08:13We've changed it a fair bit

08:14over the course

08:15of the last three years

08:16whenever we've played games,

08:17but yeah,

08:18there's definitely

08:18the opportunity to rotate.

08:20You don't want to lose

08:21too much when you do rotate

08:23and do bring fresh players in,

08:25but we'll just balance it off

08:27and have a look at

08:27what we think the best 11

08:28to start the game is

08:29and as long as everybody

08:30is declared fit

08:31and as long as everybody

08:32reports well on everything

08:34that we're asking them

08:34to report on,

08:35i.e. injuries,

08:36energy levels, etc.,

08:37then they'll be available

08:38for selection.

08:39It's all like Marlon,

08:40Pat can play all three games,

08:41wouldn't you, Pio?

08:42Marlon, yeah,

08:42he's incredibly fit.

08:44I think he definitely

08:44has the capability.

08:45We'll always keep an eye

08:46on that because of age,

08:48but I think if you look

08:49objectively,

08:50which we will do,

08:51I don't think there's anything

08:53that's really holding back

08:54Marlon from playing

08:55multiple games in a week

08:56and he did it against Watford,

08:58came in,

08:59again,

08:59bear in mind that he was

09:00out for five weeks

09:01with knee surgery,

09:03so he'd missed a huge chunk

09:04of the season.

09:04He came in and he played

09:05against Watford,

09:06he played against Middlesbrough

09:06and I didn't think he showed

09:07any effects of that.

09:08And obviously you used

09:09the substitutes as well

09:10against Leicester as well

09:10to protect your players

09:11for this run.

09:13Yeah,

09:13I mean,

09:14we used them because

09:15we thought in game

09:16they were the right

09:16substitutions to make

09:18and we're asking

09:19for a huge output

09:20from the boys

09:21in terms of

09:23the running distances,

09:25high speed and sprint

09:25distances we were

09:26asking them to cover

09:26and yeah,

09:27we thought those

09:28were the right changes

09:28in the game to make

09:30and yeah,

09:30we have a couple

09:31of fresh bodies

09:31because of the changes

09:32that we made in Saturday.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended