Portsmouth boss responds to Championship relegation calls ahead of Millwall
The bookies have Pompey among the Championship relegation favourites, with some gloomy outlooks offered after their recent poor form. John Mousinho explains why that won’t be a source of motivation for his players, however.
John Mousinho insisted Pompey relegation predictions are of no concern to his side ahead of their Championship return.
And the Blues boss promised his men will source motivation from other areas, after being tipped to return to League One this term.
Bookies moving Pompey into relegation picture
Mousinho’s men get back to league action this weekend, as they look to arrest a slump in form as Millwall arrive at Fratton Park.
It’s one league win in 11 for Pompey ahead of the visit of Alex Neil’s men, with the side falling down the table after a positive start to the campaign.
That drop-off has been reflected in the bookies shortening the Blues’ relegation odds, as they now sit among the favourites to go down.
The oddsmakers variously have Norwich and Mousinho’s men slated for the third dropzone spot, with Oxford United in the relegation betting picture while Sheffield Wednesday are massive odds-on favourites to go down after their 12-point deduction.
Meanwhile pundits are adding to the gloom at present, with some bleak outlooks reflecting how things currently stand as Pompey aim to reverse their fortunes.
That has put a spotlight on the issues impacting results among supporters, though there is the positivity of players returning to the fray for the next run of games after attacking injuries.
Mousinho is giving the bookies’ predictions short shrift, however, and sees plenty of more pressing motivations to improve results over proving them wrong.
He said: ‘I’m pretty sure we would’ve been odds-on favourites to be relegated at plenty of points last season, what does it matter to us?
‘If you need to look at bookies’ odds to motivate you there’s an issue, I don’t think it’s going to be part of our make-up.
‘We need to have better bits of motivation than that, I don’t think that is going to be part of our make-up.
‘We need better motivation than that, because if we win a couple of games and the odds change on us going down we’d lose motivation to play.
‘That happens, right. We’ve had a blip and it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster season with ups and downs.
‘We’re five games on from Leicester now, but after that game the questions were “what can we achieve this year? What can this side do?”.
‘We haven’t picked us results since the, but nothing has significantly changed.
‘Nothing has changed as a coach or as a staff. Nothing, for the most part, has changed with the football club and players.
‘We’re in a similar spot as before really, we just haven’t picked up results which we need to do.’
Frantic Championship run offers Pompey chance to quickly improve
The good news for Pompey is the Millwall game begins a frantic period of games, where they can start to turn their season around. This Saturday’s match is the first of six fixtures in 21 days, with a trip to Sheffield United following next Wednesday, before Bristol City arrive at PO4 on November 29.
It’s a visit to Charlton on December 6 before a mid-week jaunt to Swansea on December 9. Mousinho’s men complete that busy run of games with Blackburn coming to Fratton on December 13. Taken across a wider period, Pompey have 11 games in 43 days, which takes in the Christmas period and fixtures up to the home clash with Ipswich Town on January 4.