“I’m absolutely furious’ – John Mousinho gives his verdict on Pompey’s 2-1 defeat to Preston on Saturday afternoon.
Stefan Thordarson netted a 87th minute winner as Paul Heckingbottom’s Lilywhites side after Ryan Porteous netted his first goal for Preston in the 76th minute before Colby Bishop equalised on 83 minutes. Cohen Brammall also saw his chance rattle back off the bar with a 40-yard piledriver.
The result means the result Portsmouth are 17th in the Championship, 42 points from 38 games, and 4 points above the drop zone, while Preston are 14th with 47 points from 38 games played, 9 points from danger.
The Blues boss said:, per the club website: “I’m absolutely furious and can’t believe what we did after scoring the equaliser.
“It was unacceptable and I think I’ve been far too nice and far too kind to this team for far too long now.
“After working so hard to get ourselves back into the game, what happened was just awful. It was a good reaction to get the equaliser and then a terrible one to concede again.
“We kept getting the press wrong and leaving our man – we were doing some of the world’s silliest things.
“When you watch the second goal back, they’re on the halfway line with four of our players around their guy.
“It’s the same old message we give them about dealing with that and yet the ball ends up in the back of our net. It’s not good enough.
“For most of the game it had been a really good away performance, without being spectacular in the final third.
“I thought we looked comfortable, even after Preston made the four changes, but yet again, we’ve shot ourselves in the foot.
“Most played well for 89 minutes – if you want to do that then you find themselves back in League One. If you want to play well for the full match, then you give yourselves a chance.
“We built up a 10-point gap to the bottom three and now we seem to have just switched off. We explicitly tell the players not to do that.
“It’s going to be a miserable period to the next game – and that’s how it should be. We need to take a tougher line because the message doesn’t seem to be sinking in.”
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Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom said: “Listen, there were good moments in the first half, but that’s all they were, moments. It’s more the pace at which we played at.
“I say all along, I want to enjoy watching us play. With Portsmouth, I don’t mean to be patronising in any way, shape or form when I say this, I really like what they’ve done and how they’ve changed their season around.
“They’re really difficult to play against and that was having a big impact on us. I’ve also said we’ve been drawing too many games, so I felt it was on us. The onus was on us being the home team with our support behind us to try and force the issue and get the win.”
“When we sent Ched on we were going to change shape but we scored then straight away so we didn’t. We were disappointed with Portsmouth’s goal obviously from a set play, so then we did change shape again to try and force the issue.
“We put Steffi at the right of the diamond in midfield and then he makes a fantastic run and I’ve not seen the finish yet but it must have been a real tight angle so yeah, fantastic goal to win it.”
Hecky added: “It’s a reward for all the performances they’ve been putting in. How many times have I said what I said after Sunderland? Sometimes I probably come across more disappointed than I am with the performance just because it is frustrating and we all feel it so yeah for us to get the rewards today it’s fantastic.”
Twitter users gave their reaction as John Mousinho gives his verdict on Pompey’s 2-1 defeat to Preston…
@Michael60774449: Mousinho can criticise the players as much as likes but he’s absolutely culpable today.
@SAChatwin83: JM has to take full responsibility for this. Yengi not good enough. Bish on an absolute high, but pushes him back. Preston the worst team I’ve seen this year. Says it all. Bang in trouble
@jtothet270: Sides below us are switching on, this is not the time to hit a bad run of form. Hull getting a result away to Westbrom, Cardiff winning at Blackburn, Oxford winning, Derby winning, Blackburn is a must win it’s simple as. We aren’t gonna get anything at cov or Millwall. Concerning
@Pompey_France: Terrible game management from JM lately. We’re in deep trouble if he doesn’t address our chance creation issues.
@ALittlecopse: Shocker, we’re right back in the brown stuff again. Not a surprise score for me. Leeds is history 😂
@Iain_Macdonald7: Where are the “we’re safe” fans now? 10 down to 4 points in a week. Shocking. Can’t wait for the “oh but we played well” from some fans & Mous. Well last time I checked wins get you 3 points not silly comments like that. Sleep walking towards relation as other teams win again.
@84Knight: They were there for the taking 1st half and we didn’t make the most of it. 2 awful goals to concede. Bishop not playing as the main striker should not happen again. 4 wins in 5, is now 3 defeats in 4. Everyone else picking points up now too. We are in big trouble.
@Critchpot: fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off
@CarlCharnley: I know it doesn’t mean much after a loss but your fans where class today. Great following considering the miles you’ve had to do, best we’ve had at deepdale in my opinion.
@TrveCvltPop: Points lost in the last 5 mins at Leeds, Boro, Plymouth, Burnley, Watford & today. Points gained in the last 5 mins… 0. Holding onto one win and a draw from those, or, god forbid, even scoring one of our own and we’d be safe. If we go down, that’s why.
@Dan23934245: Do these players not give a shit. That last 20 was hideous. Also for me partly johns fault again. Completely wrong subs. Why take Adil off. And why put Gordon on not Ritchie???
@F1footballfan1: WE CAN’T KEEP FUCKING DOING THIS. Cardiff and Derby won as well so only 4 points above the relegation zone. Can’t keep losing these games. Still believe we’ll stay up but am very nervous. 2 week break now and onto Blackburn. PUP 🔵⚪️🔵⚪️
@MickJPR1: Every credit to every single one of the 3624 travelling #pompey supporters. Absolute fantastic away support & the best seen at Deepdale all season 👏🏻👏🏻 Hope to see you again next season 🤞🏻
@FrowenArchie: Oh well least it’s the international break and I can watch Jordan Henderson play for England. CUNTS
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