'Glimpses': Portsmouth boss issues challenge to Sunderland loanee after first-team omission
Pompey fans have only seen the best of Adil Aouchiche ‘in glimpses’, according to John Mousinho.
And he’s ready to demonstrate his faith in the Sunderland loanee by recalling him at Coventry tonight (8pm) to inspire his travel-weary troops.
The Frenchman was dropped to the bench at Millwall on Saturday with Terry Devlin instead preferred, offering a different skill set in the number 10 role.
Aouchiche has totalled nine appearances since his January arrival, scoring once and so far failing to conjure up any assists.
Nonetheless, Mousinho has praised the 22-year-old’s ‘positive impact’ and impressive commitment to Pompey’s ongoing battle to remain in the Championship.
He told The News: ‘Adil’s had a really positive impact here. He had to bide his time coming into the team and has then been a big part of us picking up results, such as QPR, Leeds and Blackburn.
‘We also asked him to play out of position at Preston, but I thought he did well. He’s growing into things nicely. I just didn’t think it was the right game for him at Millwall.
‘I spoke to Adil about how we’re not bringing in like for like, it was about someone more suited to that game - and it was a really, really physical match. Whether we got the team selection right or wrong, I do feel it was the right thing to be thinking about.
‘I don’t think he’s more suited to home games. He’s got enough quality and enough talent away from home when things open up. When there’s bigger pictures, he can start to influence games a lot more, he has a big part away from home as well.
‘Certainly he shouldn’t be restricted to just being suited to home matches, I think he's suited to away games too.
‘We want to make sure we keep pushing Adil for assists, pushing him for goals, pushing him for creativity, his work-rate is outstanding, right up there.
‘We need more goals and assists. We know he’s got that quality, we saw it against Plymouth. We’ve probably only seen it in glimpses.
‘When some of the good things he does higher up the pitch come off, he looks a very, very good and talented player, while we’ve been pleasantly surprised by his work-rate off the ball as well.
‘Once he marries those two together, that will definitely take him to the next level.’
‘Fit, young, determined’
As a Muslim, Aouchiche recently observed Ramadan, with a month of fasting during the hours of daylight ending on March 30.
Over that period, he started all five of Pompey’s matches, including Plymouth at Fratton Park, when he netted his maiden goal for the club in the 2-1 defeat.
And Mousinho continues to be hugely impressed with the Frenchman’s ongoing energy levels.
He added: ‘Adil’s work-rate is more than impressive. He’s extremely high in the data we look at, so distance covered and high-speed distance, he gets around the pitch brilliantly well, probably works too hard at times.
‘Not forgetting he played for the entire month while fasting when we had a lot of games. Credit to him for his professionalism and how he did through that time.
‘Nothing was affected in terms of his physical output. You can tell what a fit, young, determined lad he is.’