'Difficult to ignore': Portsmouth boss lauds resurgent Swansea City loanee after surprise return

John Mousinho has saluted Florian Bianchini’s promising comeback in Saturday’s vital 3-1 win over Millwall.

Goals from Zak Swanson and Jordan Williams, either side of a Tristan Crama own goal, rendered Mihailo Ivanovic’s 72nd-minute strike nothing more than a consolation at Fratton Park.

The win lifts Pompey above Swansea into 19th in the Championship table, maintaining a four-point gap on the relegation zone, while they’re still only six points off the top half.

Florian Bianchini gives an industrious performance on rare start

After four consecutive matches as an unused substitute, loanee winger Bianchini was given the start at Fratton Park on Saturday.

The Frenchman lasted 80 minutes, and although he didn’t manage a goal or assist, he was very active, attempting two shots and four crosses, while having three touches in the opposition box.

Bianchini also worked incredibly hard for the team and by the time he was brought off in the 80th minute, had clocked up four tackles, three recoveries and one clearance - as well as winning nine of his 18 duels.

John Mousinho addresses Bianchini’s lack of minutes for Portsmouth

Mousinho has praised Bianchini’s work in training over recent weeks, ultimately crediting that as the key to him being given the start against Millwall.

Now, his task is to keep up these sorts of performances, while adding to his solitary assist for the club so far.

“One of the things with Flo, is that we have been a little frustrated so far this season, because he’s one of those players [who] we’ve seen those glimpses [from], we’ve seen what he does in training every week, we’ve seen a very confident player at times, and at other times, we haven’t seen that enough and just haven’t seen that consistency,” Mousinho said of the Swansea loanee.

“He’s one who has trained so well over the last couple of weeks; it was very difficult for us to ignore that. And we had looked at the spell in between international breaks. He hadn’t played a huge amount, and performance-wise, when he did play, I think he probably didn’t do what we’ve seen him do tonight.”

On what to expect from Bianchini moving forward, Mousinho added: “There’s loads more to come from him. I still think he can keep being a huge goal threat, and make sure he gets on the outside of players.

“But I thought from the off, he was properly at it today, and the work rate he gives you is never in doubt, either.”

Bianchini will hope to get another run out when Pompey travel to 22nd-place Sheffield United in a key battle at the bottom of the Championship on Wednesday evening.