‘Pressure’s on Watford’: Portsmouth’s plan to break and enter impenetrable Vicarage and steal Boxing Day result
John Mousinho has told Pompey they can go to Watford with the pressure off as they bid to end their unbeaten home record.
And the Blues boss believes the weight of expectation to get a Boxing Day result will firmly be on the shoulders of the Hornets.
Tom Cleverley’s side will aim to extend an unbeaten home record this term, which has seen them win eight and draw two of their outings at Vicarage Road.
Watford last suffered defeat on their turf in March, but Pompey are upwardly mobile and sit seventh in the form table with one loss in six.
Mousinho is clear the onus will be on the Cleverley’s men though, with his team able to play with relative freedom.
He said: ‘They’ve been really good at home.
‘We obviously have a gameplan in terms of how we’re going to approach the game.
‘The most important thing is we go there with that freedom in possession, because the pressure is very much off us and there’s a good amount of expectation for Watford to go and win the game and dominate at home. So we can go there with a bit of freedom and enjoy ourselves,
‘On the defensive side of it we’ll obviously have a plan in terms of how we’re going to press and close them down. We’ll maybe have to not be quite as aggressive as we have been at home, so we may have to sit off and concede more possession than we’d like to.
‘That’s the respect we have to show a side which has so much talent in and is literally littered with options. The pressure will be on them to win the game - so we can go and enjoy it.’
The challenge for Pompey is to put more daylight between themselves and the bottom three over a testing Christmas period. Despite the tactical considerations, Mousinho sees some more basic requirements for his team to continue their decent form.
He added: ‘It’s a really interesting one. Over the last few weeks I’ve been really pleased with the form and performances.
‘It’s about stringing that together and making sure we make a fist of it. It’s a really exciting game and local-ish compared to some of the distances the fans have been travelling recently. Hopefully we can go and enjoy ourselves.
‘The lads have stepped up their performances and I see a group who are hungry and together. They are willing to work together, but the biggest trait is the amount of work this group is willing to do.
‘Sometimes you just have to run to win games. If you run you give yourselves a chance, it’s not glamorous or sexy. For anyone who watches any football anywhere they know that’s true for the majority of teams up and down the country. That work-rate, the gameplan the lads have brought into and maybe a bit of luck here and there helps.’