Portsmouth boss plotting to grant striker 'freedom' to thrive as he eyes attacking reshuffle against Watford

John Mousinho has pledged to hand Conor Chaplin the freedom to enable his attacking talents to flourish.

The loanee is set to return straight into Pompey’s side against Watford tomorrow night (7.45pm), having been ineligible to face parent club Ipswich last weekend, sparking an attacking reshuffle.

In his absence, the Blues lost 2-1, with Adrian Segecic taking over the number 10 role and Minhyeok Yang and Mark Kosznovszky operating on the wings.

Chaplin has made two appearances since his emotional homecoming on transfer deadline day, with Pompey yet to score with him in the side.

Nonetheless, these are still very early days in the popular attacker’s second Fratton Park spell and Mousinho is adamant he knows how to get the best out of a three-time promotion winner.

‘Conor’s had a massive impact’

The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘Conor’s had a massive impact in the changing room. A fantastic player, really good lad, and, by his own admission, he probably didn’t have the best of games against Sheffield Wednesday.

‘We all said that about every single player to be honest, there was no-one hiding behind anything there. There’s no-one that really came out of that game with a huge amount of credit,

‘I don’t think there’s a huge amount that I’m going to do with Conor or mess about with, he knows his own game, he knows how to get himself going.

‘He’s best when he plays with a bit of freedom and he’s certainly at his best when he’s going forward, scoring goals.

‘For me it’s about giving him that licence and freedom to go and show what a good player he is. You can also consider him for positions across the entire front four.

‘Conor has been raring to go. He missed not playing on Saturday, but he’s back and available for the side against Watford. We’ve got to dust ourselves off and go again.’

Portsmouth poised for attacking reshuffle

Should Chaplin resume his favoured number 10 role, Segecic could return to the right flank, which has proven such a problematic position for Pompey this season.

If Josh Murphy is still not able to come back from his ankle injury, that would leave Yang and Florian Bianchini fighting it out to play on the left wing.

Certainly Mousinho was encouraged by Yang’s maiden Pompey league start at Ipswich, intimating he feels the Spurs loanee is getting close to showing his best form after a low-key entrance.

Impressing off the pitch

In the meantime, Chaplin continues to hugely impress the head coach off the pitch, having slotted straight back into familiar surroundings after a seven-year absence.

The former Barnsley man’s energy and enthusiasm in the dressing room, coupled with a career which saw him make 22 Premier League appearances last season, has already made him a central figure.

Mousinho added: ‘Conor really lifts the standards day to day.

‘He’s got a huge amount of experience, is a really good player, he played very recently in the Premier League and can help the boys in terms of their professionalism and expectations of what it takes to be successful at this level.’

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