'It just hasn't clicked': Portsmouth boss' admission over marquee signing's surprise struggles
The loanee has scored once in 30 appearances this season after arriving on loan from Ipswich
Time is rapidly running out, yet John Mousinho is still holding out hope that his marquee summer signing will finally discover the ‘spark’ so glaringly absent.
Conor Chaplin’s recall to Pompey’s starting XI against Derby signalled his 30th appearance of a season which has produced just one goal for the prodigal son.
Representing the 22nd start of the attacker’s second Fratton Park spell, Mousinho has continued to put faith in the Ipswich loanee, despite consistently disappointing returns.
Where once he was uncomfortably out of position on the right wing, subsequently the vast majority of Chaplin’s outings have been in the favoured number 10 role he flourished in during two Ipswich promotion seasons.
Yet, with nine potential games remaining before his Portman Road return, a Blues team desperately struggling for goals need the 29-year-old to hit a rich seam of form.
‘For one reason or another, it just hasn’t clicked’
Mousinho told The News: ‘One of the reasons we brought Conor Chaplin to the football club was because of the attacking prowess he’s had at the level, we’ve definitely got that in the building. For one reason or another, it just hasn’t clicked.
‘There’s a couple of sides to Conor’s game. There’s what he gives you out of possession, the leadership aspect on the pitch, the work-rate, everything he does in terms of knitting the way we want to play.
‘And really, where his bread and butter has been, definitely in the two campaigns where Ipswich were promoted, you have all of that together - plus what he did at the top end of the pitch, where it was relentless, goal scoring, assists, creativity.
‘We thought we might have got the spark back into him post-West Brom. Unfortunately, he only played one game after that before getting injured and coming out.
‘That’s been the bit which has been missing, everyone can see that, Conor knows it himself. There is a difference between us playing in the Championship and Ipswich in terms of chance creation, but that’s still something we’d really like to get a bit more out of Conor.
‘Something has to go for him. It’s one of those situations where, if something did drop and he got a bit of luck - that disallowed goal against Swansea maybe - we’re talking in different tones to what we are today.’
Crucial trip to QPR
Chaplin is vying with John Swift and top-scorer Adrian Segecic for the number 10 role at QPR tomorrow.
Jacob Brown, who was switched into a centre-forward role in Monday’s defeat to Derby, could also drop back there should Colby Bishop be handed a first-team recall.
Only Sheffield Wednesday have scored fewer than Pompey’s 36 Championship goals this term, a damning statistic which threatens to return them to League One.
Mousinho added: ‘Maybe there is that frustration from my point of view where, having scored that goal against West Brom, if Conor had stayed fit and stayed in the side, maybe something comes off the back of that.
‘Particularly where we scored six goals across the two games (against Charlton and Millwall). Does something drop for Chappers? I don’t know.
‘Hopefully the spark comes soon - from a bit of confidence when something goes well for him in a game.’
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