Portsmouth boss John Mousinho makes 'best' Coventry City claim - but welcomes challenge against Frank Lampards' in-form side

John Mousinho believes Coventry City are the stand-out team in this season’s Championship.

But that doesn’t mean the Blues boss fears the challenge that lies ahead of his side at Fratton Park tonight.

Instead, he’s relishing the prospect of going head-to-head with the current league leaders, who are yet to suffer a league defeat this season.

Indeed, Frank Lampard’s troops remain the only side yet to experience a league loss in England’s top four divisions this season - a record aided by the Sky Blues being the Championship’s top scorers with 29 goals and having a defensive recorded (7 conceded) that’s bettered only by Stoke, who travel to the south coast on Saturday.

That’s seen Coventry keeper Carl Rushworth keep clean sheets in each of his past five appearances for tonight’s PO4 visitors - a daunting prospect for the Blues, who continue to be without the attacking talents of Callum Lang, Josh Murphy and Thomas Waddingham.

Despite the challenge that awaits the 14th-placed Blues, though, Mousinho is looking forward to testing his side’s mettle against the division’s in-from side after picking up four points from their two most recent games against promotion-contenders Middlesbrough and Leicester respectively.

John Mousinho shares thoughts on Coventry ahead of Fratton Park fixture

He told The News: ‘Yeah, they're top of the league, they're the best side, they're undefeated in 10 games, top scorers, so yeah, it makes a lot of sense to me (that Coventry are favourites for promotion to the Premier League).

‘(But) It will be a really good challenge for us to see what lessons we can take from Leicester and Middlesbrough, how positive those two performances are and to see if we can build upon that against the best side in the league who are flying high at the top of the table undefeated.

‘It's going to be a good challenge to be honest. We come up against them every single week, not necessarily at this level but they're always tough, tough games.’

Pompey v Coventry: Honours even last season

Pompey beat Coventry 4-1 at Fratton Park last season in a game that saw Lang score all of the Blues’ goals. Mousinho’s side then suffered late heartache at the CBS Arena in April thanks to Jamie Paterson’s last-gasp winner.

Lampard still has nightmares about that hammering at PO4. However, Mousinho doesn’t believe either result will have a bearing on tonight’s game.

He added: ‘We have really fond memories of the result at Fratton Park, particularly after going a goal down and the fact that Langy scored four on the day, it made it a special day.

‘We actually weren’t very good in the first half, we could have gone two goals down I think, but then we grew into the game and were magnificent in the second half.

‘I thought we were well worth a point up at their place as well and it was just that run of games where we kept conceding late and that was as late as it comes.

‘We nearly scored at the other end with the Cohen Bramall chance, and all of a sudden the ball was in the back of the net with 10 seconds to go. So yeah, a lot of heartache there but I don't think those two games have got any relevance on tonight.’

Mousinho added: ‘They (Coventry) have come back this year and shown that they've got that quality without actually making too many additions at all. They had the quality last year, they've got it again this year.’

For your next Pompey read: ‘I'm scared’: Former Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp makes Coventry City admission ahead of Fratton contest