Portsmouth boss John Mousinho pinpoints perfect pick-me-up ahead of 'biggest game of the season'

John Mousinho is convinced a Carrow Road point has boosted Pompey chances of victory in their ‘biggest game of the season’.

The Blues face fellow relegation strugglers Oxford United on Monday (12.30pm) in a must-win Fratton Park fixture.

Mousinho’s men approach the clash buoyed by a late Good Friday point at Norwich, ending a run of three successive defeats amid a worrying end-of-season form slump.

Pompey currently stand one point ahead of the U’s with a game in hand - and, crucially, one place above the Championship relegation zone.

And their head coach believes that 1-1 draw against the Canaries ensures his team enter that pivotal match with renewed belief.

‘The biggest game of the season so far’

Mousinho told The News: ‘We are going into Monday with a bit of a confidence boost off the back of that disappointment a couple of weeks ago - and that’s the big thing for me.

‘The point at Norwich is great, but it’s just having that confidence that we can mix it with the best sides in the league when we need to.

‘We have shown that consistently over the past couple of months and Friday was one which hopefully convinces the lads they have something to play for because, when we apply ourselves, we are able to produce those kinds of performances.

‘Oxford is the biggest game of the season so far, absolutely massive. We’ve got everything falling into place with it being Easter Monday, with it being an early kick-off, with two sides in the bottom four and scrapping away. So it’s a huge game.

‘It feels like a must-win, I don’t think either side would hide away from that. If we don’t win for whatever reason, we still have six games to go and obviously Oxford have five.

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‘We are facing a side in the relegation battle with us - and they are coming to Fratton Park. It will definitely feel like a big game.’

84th-minute own goal earns Pompey point

Pelle Mattsson’s 84th-minute own goal handed the Blues a 1-1 draw, capping an improved second-half display from the visitors.

Meanwhile, Oxford drew 1-1 at home to high-flying Hull, maintaining their improved form of late, with just one defeat in their last six matches - a 2-0 loss at Southampton.

And the two sides will be locking horns at Fratton Park on Monday as the relegation battle reaches its climax.

He added: ‘Norwich’s expectation, particularly going a goal up, would have been these are games they should be winning.

‘No arrogance or anything like that, I just think that was the expectation on Friday around a Pompey side going there.

‘For us to go a goal down and to then come back into it and actually play as well as we did in patches was really pleasing.’

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