'Going to be miserable' - fuming Portsmouth boss makes promise after defeat at Preston North End
John Mousinho has promised the next two weeks will be ‘miserable’ for his Pompey players.
The furious Blues boss made the vow ahead of the forthcoming international break after watching his side crash to a late defeat at Preston North End.
Pompey thought they had snatched a draw at Deepdale after Colby Bishop cancelled out Ryan Porteous’ 76th-minute opener on 83 minutes. Yet four minutes later the hosts regained the lead through Stefan Thordarson, who fired home from the narrowest of angles.
The nature of the winner - which narrowed the gap to the relegation zone to four points - incensed the Pompey head coach, with Mousinho telling The News in his post-match interview that he has been “far too nice to the players for a long time”.
Now in his chat with BBC Solent, the former Preston defender doubled down on his anger and insisted a tougher line would be adopted in the weeks leading up to Pompey’s next game against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, March 29.
When asked what the next two weeks look like, Mousinho told the Beeb: ‘Well, it's going to be miserable and that's the way it should be, it just is.
‘I'd love to be more positive about it but I think we've got to take a bit of a tougher line and we've got to be a bit harsher because the message just isn't sinking in.
‘So we're going to have to come back in two weeks' time against Blackburn and really be at it.’
Pompey message isn’t filtering in for certain players
The Championship defeat at Deepdale was Pompey’s 13th on the road this season, with just 10 points from a possible 57 accumulated on their travels.
That has contributed to a nervous run-in for the Blues, with eight games of the 2024-25 campaign remaining.
And Mousinho warned if attitudes don’t change quickly then a return to League One was on the cards.
He added: ‘The message isn't filtering in for certain players.
‘Unfortunately, players could turn around and go, look, we played really well for 89 minutes, which most of them did, right? So most of the players out there played really well for 89 minutes.
‘Unfortunately, if you want to play well for 89 minutes, you find yourself back in League One as a player, as a club, everything. If you want to play well for 90-95 minutes, you give yourself half a chance or you're just not good enough.’
For your next Pompey read: Neil Allen's Portsmouth player ratings against Preston