John Mousinho makes Portsmouth selection hint ahead of clash with former club Oxford United

John Mousinho has promised there will be changes to his Portsmouth side ahead of the visit of his former club Oxford United this Saturday.

The lunchtime kick-off at Fratton Park comes under 72 hours after Wednesday night's horror show at Stoke City, from which the head coach did not beat around the bush in voicing his embarrassment.

Pompey are still chasing their elusive first win after a tough start to the fixture list, and many see Saturday's game as the most palatable opportunity yet to do so, though Oxford do sit in the top half of the Championship table.

Mousinho told The News [4 October]: "I think we have to be balanced with it. I don’t think you can lose 6-1 and not make changes going into the weekend, so we’re going to make some.

"We just have to take everything on balance. If we’d had poor performances going into the game and it was another poor performance, you’d have to look at certain positions and certain individuals.

"We’re going to do that anyway, but we played really well at the weekend going into the game. I think we have to take everything on balance - don’t overreact but also don’t under-react. We have to get it right."

Portsmouth boss hosts his old club

Oxford United know all about Mousinho - perhaps more than Portsmouth do, after he hung up his boots as a player halfway through the 2022-23 season to take the Blues' head coach role following Danny Cowley's sacking.

While he will play it down, there will be an added sentiment for Mousinho, and likely for Josh Murphy as well, whose crucial Wembley brace in May was what opened up the slot for Oxford in the Championship this season.

His choice to leave the Kassam Stadium as a free agent and join former teammate Mousinho at Fratton Park will attract some ribbing from the away end, who will be increasingly confident they can grab victory from the South Coast after watching Wednesday's drubbing.

Regardless of the midweek capitulation; regardless of the laser focus on Mousinho's team selection, Pompey fans will still view Saturday's encounter as the most prominent opportunity yet to take all three points.

The fickle nature of football could really do the Blues a favour with a win to put Stoke out of everyone's minds.

In other Portsmouth news, Elias Sorensen deserves a shot back in the starting XI.

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