Portsmouth boss namedrops Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town after ‘sticky patch’

Mousinho’s side enjoyed a barnstorming start to the 2023/24 campaign, and by the time it got to Boxing Day they were sitting pretty at the top of the League One table with just one defeat to their name… Fast-forward a few weeks, though, and things aren’t looking quite as rosy.

Pompey are still top, by a point, however both Peterborough United and Derby County have been able to capitalise on their run of just one win in the last six, and also have a game in hand on the current table-toppers.

Mousinho isn’t overly concerned, though, saying that they knew there would be difficult spells in the season, referring to both the Owls and the Tractor Boys who both managed to secure promotion despite their own ‘sticky patches’.

Speaking recently he told the media, “This spell is disappointing, so of course you are concerned when you have a run like we’ve been on recently… We’re going through a bit of a sticky patch, but we knew there would be some bumps along the way, we’ve always said that.

“It was important none of us got too high when we were at the top - and we aren’t going to get too low at the moment. My job is to make sure I am providing everybody with all the support they need, whether that be John, Rich, the players, the staff around them. We are all here together. We’ve had a superb spirit of togetherness from day one and that’s something which will see us through.”

He went on to say, “If you look back at last season, some of the clubs promoted from League One - Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday - went through some sticky patches.

“Ipswich did around this time last year, Wednesday was towards the end, while Barnsley also had a bad patch over the last month or so heading into the play-offs… This is where you find out how strong you are as a group and that collected sense of togetherness, which you hope will see everybody through.”