Over the weekend the Fratton Park side celebrated a 1-0 win over Watford that secured Championship status next season. It completes a remarkable turnaround for John Mousinho’s team, who went 10 matches without a win at the outset of the campaign and didn’t emerge from the foot of the table until mid-December.
With their titanic effort complete, it remains to be seen if they can retain the intensity of a three-game unbeaten run at S6 on Saturday. Wednesday claimed their first win since New Years Day last time out – an impressive 2-1 comeback win over play-off chasing Middlesbrough – with the Owls no doubt targeting back-to-back home wins for the first time since the turn of the year.
Portsmouth’s two greatest attacking threats were taken off in their Watford win but should be available if Mousinho’s post-match summation is to be a guide. Colby Bishop has scored 11 goals this season, while Josh Murphy – brother of former Owls loanee Jacob – has lit up their survival campaign with seven goals and 13 assists. Jordan Williams is likely to miss the rest of the season with a hamstring issue.
“We don’t want players to pick up injuries, but it’s a reflection of where we are as a group in terms of players putting their bodies on the line,” Mousinho told our sister paper The News. “Colby was absolutely dead on his feet, he picked up a bit of cramp in his calf, he has given absolutely everything for the football club.
“Murph has just taken a whack when the ball has gone out for a corner, I think he’s fine. We don’t like bringing Murph off! I will check with him, but that’s not one I think we need to be concerned about.”
On the coupon-busting nature of their survival effort, which saw the Pompey boss come under pressure for a sluggish start to the season, Mousinho continued: “Staying up was the remit before the start of the season, it was the remit before the start of the Watford game – and we’ve managed to do it. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet because of the nature of the game and how bizarre the second half was in particular. Once it does, we will be extremely satisfied as a football club with where we have come.
“It’s one of those weird ones. It’s a bit like when we got promoted this time last year when we won the league, it felt so surreal in the evening because my head was so engrossed in the game in making sure we got over the line – and it didn’t quite sink in.”
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