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‘Incredibly successful’: Portsmouth boss on why Brighton will benefit from Mark O’Mahony’s frustrating loan
John Mousinho admits Mark O’Mahony failed to hit the levels set earlier in his Pompey stay.
But the Blues boss believes it still represents an ‘incredibly successful loan’ for the promising Brighton striker.
The highly-regarded Irishman netted three times in 13 appearances during a season-long move to Fratton Park frustratingly impacted by injury.
Regardless, despite being fit, O’Mahony didn’t feature in any of the final five matches, including not making the squad for three of them, as his campaign petered out.
Still, it signalled an important first loan for the 20-year-old, with Brighton keen for him to develop in regular first-team football away from the Amex Stadium.
And Mousinho is convinced the forward returns to the Premier League club a better player for his time with Pompey.
Brighton loanee returns a ‘much better player’
He told The News: ‘When you strip everything back for Mark, it has been an incredibly successful loan for him personally.
‘He’s had the highs of coming in and scoring against Oxford, against Stoke, at Oxford again. The highs of starting games at Championship level and performing really well.
‘Then he’s had the lows of picking up the injury against Swansea and another away on international duty. He’s probably had the lows of not being in the squad towards the back end of the season as well, not quite hitting the levels that he’d hit earlier in the year.
‘As a first loan he’s had everything and that’s really important. He has made a contribution to us staying in the league, a big contribution, he’s started plenty of games, he’s come off the bench in plenty of games, he absolutely would have wanted to have played more.
‘I think he has gone back to Brighton a much better player, so it has been a really successful loan for him.
‘A first loan can be incredibly difficult. The environment players come out of at Premier League 2 level is very, very different to what they are faced with in the Championship – and there’s nothing you can really do to try to replicate that.
‘To make that adjustment is big and first loans often fall flat on their face, some players are sent back in January, but Mark definitely wasn’t one of those.’
Injury-hampered stay at Fratton Park
O’Mahony missed two games early in his Pompey stay through a bruised foot sustained on international duty with the Republic of Ireland under-21s in September.
Then a side strain picked up during a substitute outing at Swansea in November sidelined him for almost two-and-a-half months.
It restricted O’Mahony to just four appearances in the final five months of the season, although he did score at Oxford United in February to seal a 2-0 victory which marked a second away win of the campaign for the Blues.
‘It’s incredibly difficult’
Mousinho added: ‘Even the lads, like Mark, who have played Premier League football, it is so different to Championship. The pace, the intensity of games, the fact it’s 46 games across the league season.
‘I just think it’s incredibly difficult, let alone if you are trying to take that step up to the Premier League.’
