Portsmouth boss John Mousinho is hoping some extra time to prepare for Saturday’s Championship match at home to Coventry City will benefit his side.
Pompey played three games in six days last week, culminating in a 4-0 hammering at Derby County on Friday, but have had the benefit of a full training week to address what went wrong at Pride Park.
That heavy defeat ended a run of four unbeaten to restore some optimism around Fratton Park but Mousinho isn’t overreacting to what unfolded.
“After a defeat you are always looking to play a game as quickly as possible but there are benefits in having some time off and time on the training pitch as well,” he told BBC Radio Solent.
“Maybe one of the things that undid us at the end of last week was we didn’t have any time on the training ground – we didn’t have a lot of time to prep for the Derby game and that’s something we have to address and be better at.
“We don’t want to brush anything under the carpet but some of the issues on Friday have not been part of our game over the last six weeks – it was a bit of a surprise. We do have to address it but don’t have to do anything drastic.”
Pompey are currently third from bottom in the table but only one point from safety.
Derby County head coach John Eustace spoke to BBC Radio Derby after the Rams drew 2-2 with Championship relegation rivals Portsmouth.
“It was an excellent all-round performance,” he said.
“We have come to a really difficult place and I don’t think many people expected us to get a result here.
“The effort, desire and commitment was there for everyone to see.
“Going into the last five or six minutes while 2-1 up I expect to see it out, but we were under a lot of pressure, they put a lot of good balls into the box, they filled the box. Overall, we defended it very well but it just wasn’t well enough today.
“But to come away with a point in the end is a positive result.”
