John Mousinho staying modest after second straight win as Portsmouth boss

Posted Wednesday, January 25, 2023 by PA

John Mousinho refused to take any of the plaudits after Portsmouth made it two wins from two matches since he took charge with a 2-0 victory over struggling Fleetwood.

Colby Bishop’s 15th goal of the season and a late strike from Joe Pigott sealed the points for Pompey, who had seen Joe Morrell sent off for a second bookable offence in the 68th minute.

Modest Mousinho said: “Importantly and genuinely, the lads have won two matches because of what they have done – not me.

“They produced on Saturday when the chips were down and they did it again at Fleetwood in a completely different manner.

“They were absolutely brilliant, thoroughly deserved it. I honestly would have been gutted for them more than anything if we hadn’t got anything out of the game.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to train on Monday with the frost – and they are taking everything on board.

“Very little is down to me, there has not been a huge amount I have been able to do. Instead (with the players) there’s naturally a bit of energy around the place and enthusiasm.

“I give them a lot of credit because it’s difficult in their spot to sometimes know how to respond when your head coach comes in. I’m giving them ideas and trying to put as much into them as possible without over-egging it.”

It was a third straight defeat for Fleetwood, who remain 17th, just five points above the relegation places.

Manager Scott Brown said: “Portsmouth deserved the win tonight to be perfectly honest. Our lads didn’t turn up and I was disappointed with the way we started the game.

“Their intensity was miles better than ours, they had men all over the park but we didn’t fancy the battle.

“We’ve got a couple of lads who will stick up for themselves and want the battle, but it’s League One and you’ve got to be physical and got to be strong and we had to make subs today because that was nowhere near good enough.

“I’m actually a little bit disappointed because the last four or five games have been very, very good and I’ve praised the lads, even though we’ve been beaten in some of those games.

“But you can’t praise that, it’s not good enough. It’s another corner kick we’ve conceded from so we will be working on that for the next couple of days, that’s for sure.”