'That has been my belief': Portsmouth boss addresses why he's kept picking new goal hero amid Ipswich loanee's struggles
The popular attacker earned the Blues a dramatic 1-0 win at the Riverside Stadium
John Mousinho explained his unwavering faith in Conor Chaplin and insisted: We lose something when we take him out of the side.
The former Academy graduate has suffered a difficult Fratton Park second spell since returning from Ipswich, with two goals in 34 appearances.
Nonetheless, the loanee has still started 24 Championship matches this season, of which 19 have come in the favoured number 10 role in which he flourished at Portman Road during two promotion seasons.
Despite hugely disappointing form, Mousinho has maintained belief in the 29-year-old, reflected by continuing to select him - and he was rewarded on Saturday.
In the 97th minute at the Riverside Stadium, Adrian Segecic’s volley struck Chaplin and wrong-footed keeper Sol Brynn for a dramatic winner - and Mousinho was delighted with the attacker’s contribution.
‘He’s not been in the form that he’d like to be’
He told The News: ‘I think Chappers’ performance on Saturday sums up where he’s at.
‘Defensively he was superb, led the press really well, was very, very tenacious in everything he did. We've been making sure we focus on in possession as well, just having a bit more of that quality we know he’s got.
‘It has been very different for him, he’s been playing in an extremely dominant Ipswich side at the level and we’ve asked him to do different things. But we know he’s got that, we have seen it against a lot of sides this season, particularly against West Brom, and thought he might kick on after that.
‘Conor deserves that against Middlesbrough for his work-rate and sticking at it. Probably, by his own admission, he’s not been in the form that he’d like to be - so that was brilliant for him to do that on Saturday.
‘We lose something when we take him out of the side and that has been my belief for a number of weeks now.
‘We obviously took him out of the side at QPR, when we lost 6-1. We took him out at Birmingham where we lost 4-0, at Bristol City when we lost 5-0. I am not saying it is all Chappers, but he’s a very, very good leader and has experience at the level.
‘Where we want more from him - and we probably want a few more goals and assists - he gives us a huge amount in everything else he does.’
Seven points in three games for the Blues
That’s now seven points from three games since the QPR debacle, with late goals also arriving in all three of those fixtures.
It has been quite the response from Mousinho’s men to the Loftus Road humiliation, firing up dwindling hopes of remaining in the Championship.
They are next in action on Tuesday night, when Ipswich’s visit to Fratton Park (8pm) represents the Blues’ game in hand on relegation rivals.
Mousinho added: ‘We had a lot of soul searching to do post QPR, particularly because we thought we played very well for that block of six games previous, when it just wouldn’t go into the back of the net or we’d been a bit unlucky here and there.
‘So to pick up the results, particularly at Norwich and Saturday, was really, really pleasing. Against Oxford, we definitely deserved to win the game based on how good we were until we went down to 10 men and actually after that.
‘Considering how difficult it was to lose 6-1 away from home at QPR when we had a lot of promise going into the game, the reaction from the boys has been superb.’