Mousinho rages over ‘bizarre’ incident in Portsmouth loss v Coventry
Portsmouth suffered another blow in their battle to avoid relegation from the Championship on Wednesday night after an injury-time Coventry goal condemned John Mousinho’s side to a 1-0 defeat.
After numerous relegation-threatened teams picked up points on Tuesday night, the emphasis was on Pompey to get a result against Frank Lampard’s Coventry City.
For 93 minutes, it looked like the visitors were set to pick up a valuable point and move four points clear of the drop zone.
However, in the last minute of added time, Jamie Paterson volleyed home a late winner to inflict back-to-back defeats on Portsmouth.
With another priceless point lost late on, Mousinho did not mince his words when discussing the goal.
Mousinho slams ‘unacceptable’ defending in late Coventry defeat
For the second time in five days, a late goal has prevented Pompey from picking up a result after Millwall also scored a late winner on Saturday.
It has become an unwanted trend for Mousinho, with Portsmouth now constantly looking over their shoulders with just five games to go to secure their survival.
Now, after suffering late heartbreak twice within a week, Mousinho questioned his side’s mentality when discussing the “bizarre” late winner.
Mousinho told Sky Sports: “93 minutes and 50 seconds of a really solid display and you switch off in one moment — make a really, really poor decision in one moment — and the ball is in the back of the net.
“There are loads of moments in football matches where I can accept if Coventry score from certain moments or if we press the way we’re supposed to press and all of a sudden Coventry break the press or hit one of the switches and get at us — that’s fine, I can live with that. But the nature of that goal was unacceptable.
“I don’t actually understand how we actually managed to get ourselves in that mess. Because all game we’ve dealt with that threat. Connor Ogilvie was there, he was fine, absolutely no issue. Two players challenge for the ball and the next thing you know the ball is in the back of the net.
“It was just bizarre. There’s no excuse for panic setting in. They’re professional footballers and their mentality has got them to this level. So, there should be absolutely no need for that to happen. It obviously has happened and we need to address it.
“I thought we were excellent in the first half, thought we had the better of the chances, I thought we were the better side in the first half. We controlled the ball well when we had the ball. We had to sit in at times but didn’t really concede many chances. Those fine margins.
“To come away losing the game is devastating. We’ve got to get a lot more realistic with the challenges we’re facing and how we’re dealing with them. We have to have positivity but a bit of realism.
“We can’t keep coming away from home — three times we’ve now done it — conceding 85+ minutes. You can’t put that amount of work into a game, like you’ve seen tonight, and not come away with something.”
Portsmouth vs Derby is now a must-win
After two consecutive defeats, all eyes turn to Saturday when Pompey host Derby County in a crucial match at the bottom.
A victory would guarantee that Portsmouth moves at least five points clear of the relegation zone, depending on how Luton fare against Blackburn.
Historically, 50 points secure Championship survival more often than not, and a victory would put Portsmouth two points off this goal. However, given Derby’s recent surge in form, it is unlikely to be a walk in the park for the hosts.
With Portsmouth’s following fixtures looking less than appetising, it is safe to say that the Derby match is now a must-win following the Coventry defeat.
Now, Mousinho must ensure that his squad does not dwell on their past two results and instead takes inspiration from their victory over Blackburn in what was their last match at Fratton Park.
Despite the defeat against Coventry, there were positive signs throughout the match and hopefully, that can be translated into three valuable points against Derby.