Portsmouth boss’ call as he prepares to unleash attacking quartet exciting faithful on Sheffield Wednesday
Adrian Segecic, Colby Bishop, Josh Murphy and, of course, Conor Chaplin make up Pompey’s freshened attacking line-up. John Mousinho discusses their potential ahead of his side’s Championship return to Fratton Park.
John Mousinho is backing Pompey’s new-look attacking line-up to be a Championship hit as they set their sights on Sheffield Wednesday.
And the Blues boss has highlighted the growth still in the front quartet which is enthusing Blues fans, after being assembled at the transfer window’s conclusion.
Mousinho on new-look Pompey attack: ‘A really threatening front four’
Conor Chaplin’s return to PO4 added an exciting new element to John Mousinho’s options going forward, with an encouraging ‘second debut’ produced at Southampton.
Chaplin started in the number 10 role with Adrian Segecic moved to the right flank, with the Aussie operating in a position he’s familiar with. Meanwhile, Josh Murphy shone down the left flank he’s made his own in outstanding fashion, with Colby Bishop the attacking figurehead leading the line.
It’s a potentially potent line-up for Pompey, but one which is in its infancy with Mousinho underlining the improvement to come as they understand what he demands of them
Mousinho said: ‘It’s a nice attacking four.
‘We know everything we need to know about Murphs and Colby, while Segs has been a breath of fresh air since coming into the building. We’ve had that huge excitement about having Conor here and bringing him back from Ipswich, off the back of such a successful time away from the football club.
‘So it’s a really threatening front four, but a front four which also works its socks off. We saw that last weekend and that was the foundation of where we need to be.
‘We can understand why supporters are excited.
‘It’s about getting those combinations on the right-hand side. We’re pretty clear about what we want to achieve on the left-hand side, it’s just that slight tweak in terms of what attacking down the right looks like.
‘It’s the first time we’ve played the four of them together last weekend. Segs we’ve moved slightly out of his position to accommodate Conor. Once we get those partnerships going I think it will be successful.’
Attacking options good Championship news for Pompey
The good news for Pompey is they can now call on the existing front four, but also have a host of reinforcements to call on now and down the line.
Chief among them, of course, is Callum Lang who is recovering from hamstring surgery with the Scouser slated to miss up to 12 weeks of the campaign. Meanwhile, wingers Minhyeok Yang and Florian Bianchini were on the bench last week, with new boy Makenzie Kirk after his arrival from St Johnstone.
Franco Umeh is set to come into the equation after his £500,000 arrival from Crystal Palace, while Harvey Blair is hoping to build on his maiden campaign as he nears fitness after his hamstring issue. Thomas Waddingham is out with a quad injury.
Mousinho is refusing to put a ceiling on Pompey’s attacking ability, but knows they will ultimately be judged on performances not potential.
He added: ‘Who knows? (how good they are against other Championship attacks). The proof is in the pudding, but we’re extremely happy having that four and there’s competition in behind them as well.
‘We’ve got players in behind who are really knocking the door and trying to get a spot. Florian has been really unlucky given he’s started three games and we’ve won two of them and drawn the other. When he came on he won the penalty against Norwich, while Minhyeok has been very lively in training.
‘We’ve got Harvey and Franco ready to come back from injury as well. So we’ll see how effective that front four is, but we’re pretty excited about it.’