‘Not going to happen’: John Mousinho’s damning statement over Portsmouth injury crisis
A pretty forceful and dismissive statement from the Pompey boss today over his squad’s unrelenting injury crisis.
John Mousinho laughed off the notion of being overloaded with players when Pompey’s injury crisis eases and insisted: It won’t happen.
The Blues boss believes having an excess of options available to him isn’t a scenario he’s likely to face at PO4 - given the unrelenting nature of his squad’s fitness issues.
Mousinho on having too many players: ‘It’s just not going to happen’
The football operation at Fratton Park have entered the final stages of the January window, with four days of player trading remaining before Monday’s 7pm cut-off for business.
Aji Alese’s loan capture from Sunderland yesterday was Pompey’s fourth piece of business, following on from a temporary deal for Millenic Alli and the permanent signings of Ebou Adams and Keshi Anderson.
The focus now turns to the finishing touches to recruitment, with a striker sought and a second second central defensive addition a consideration.
Pompey are still trailing Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Svante Ingelsson, while Mousinho has indicated another winger coming in is a possibility.
Mousinho’s senior group now totals 32 players, with keeper Jordan Archer and defender Tom McIntyre not registered after the last summer window.
He goes into this weekend’s clash against West Brom with 10 players sidelined, while defensive duo Regan Poole (groin) and Ibane Bowat (back) were in the squad against Southampton despite fitness worries.
It’s an injury list Mousinho rates as his worst in management, with much of his three years at PO4 afflicted by similar issues.
The head coach is recruiting with that in mind, meaning he could potentially be overloaded with players in the event of the injuries clearing up.
Mousinho was extremely dismissive of such a situation emerging, however, based on what his past experiences at Pompey show.
When asked about potentially having too many players, Mousinho said: ‘If I ever get them back, I’ll worry about that then!
‘All I can see at the moment is I can go into the physio room and put out a really good Championship side. That’s not even a joke, we’d have a brilliant team.
‘With the Charlton game rearranged we’re really heavy on fixtures in February. We have a busy Easter, too, so it would be wonderful if we had too many players available. If we get that, it’s a problem I’d rather deal with over what we’re dealing with now.
‘I can handle it (having too many players), it’s just not going to happen.
‘My time at Portsmouth tells me that’s not going to happen, my time in football tells me it’s not going to happen. If it does, I’ve got a headache I want.’
Steady centre-back pairing would be ‘a wonderful problem to have’
The centre-back options is a clear case in point of Pompey having an excess of options in terms of numbers, following Alese’s arrival last night.
The 25-year-old is the sixth out-and-out player there, yet Mousinho isn’t ruling out another signing arriving in that department with Dundee’s Luke Graham chased this month.
Despite an abundance of central defenders, Mousinho has still not been able to employ a fit pairing for an extended period - underlining his dismissive stance on that changing.
He added: ‘Centre-backs is the prime position for it (injuries), look at the amount of centre-back pairings last year and this year.
‘If all of a sudden we get a steady centre-back pairing, it’d be a wonderful problem to have.’