Pompey boss John Mousinho speaks to The News after the penalty shootout defeat to Peterborough in the Carabao Cup tonight.
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00:00 So a dramatic second half in particular only to end up in penalties and probably losing 5-4?
00:06 Yeah, in a really different first half to second half and we obviously have ended up not coming away with winning the penalty shootout and we're not in the next round of the League Cup, which is really disappointing.
00:21 But in terms of summarising the game, I think in the first half I was really displeased with the way that we went about our business in terms of the press. We weren't quite aggressive enough, we didn't move the ball quickly enough, we weren't positive enough when we did get it and it was chalk and cheese in the second half.
00:36 I thought we were excellent. We came out on the front foot, much more aggressive, 10-yard tie up the pitch and we got our rewards in scoring the goal and the game changed when the man got sent off.
00:46 I was really, really pleased with the performance in the second half. We put ourselves in a position to win the game with the penalty at the end and it wasn't to be.
00:53 But I think when we reflect on it, really, really pleased with the second half and disappointed that we didn't do better in the first half.
01:00 The penalty takers, presumably you brought on some at the end there, Pat Morell, two tight penalties?
01:06 Yes, that was the thinking behind that. We gave them five or ten minutes at the back end to try and unlock something and Marlon ended up nearly scoring as well.
01:13 So yes, when you can bring on Joe Morell and Marlon Pack, regardless of whether you're bringing them on to take penalties or not, I think it's a very good double substitution to be able to make.
01:21 And obviously Kamara and Morell missed?
01:24 Yes, no problem with that. I've been in those situations. It's really difficult. I think you've got to show a lot of steel to step up and take penalties in these situations.
01:32 It's never easy, there's a lot of pressure on it and I just have much more respect for the lads there.
01:37 Nothing but respect for the lads that did step up and take them, no problem whatsoever with missing the penalties.
01:42 The issues that I have are some during the game rather than anything that happened after it.
01:47 What issues did you have during the game?
01:49 Like I said there in terms of the first half, I didn't think we were particularly front-footed. I thought we waited for things to happen and we waited to go 1-0 down and for us to come in at half-time and have a real stern word about what we needed to do differently.
02:02 It was completely different in the second half. We were front-footed, we were aggressive, we won the ball back up a lot higher and we created a lot of problems even with 11 men.
02:09 Those were the issues I think. We just waited for things to happen and waited for half-time until we got going.
02:15 In the second half they went down to 10 men. You had all the momentum, you dominated their half in the last 31 minutes but you just couldn't find that second goal?
02:22 I actually thought we dominated the entire second half even against 11 men. We couldn't find the goal unfortunately.
02:30 We put Kolbe on to be a bit more attacking, Abou as well to give us another threat down the left-hand side.
02:34 We couldn't quite make it happen. I thought we had quite a few chances. Again, the finishing wasn't where we really needed to be which is not ideal.
02:44 We need to keep working on that. We need to keep making sure we show a bit of composure in the box.
02:47 Overall, I think we were really pleased with how we were on the front foot and just completely dominated that second half.
02:53 And Christian Salih, how delighted are you with his first Pompey goal?
02:55 Yes, I thought the performance was the thing that really made me pleased about Christian tonight. He was excellent. He was a constant thorn in the side of the centre-half.
03:02 He gave him a real tough time and I imagine he's a really difficult player to play against.
03:07 If he can add those goals on top of his all-round play then he's going to be a real threat.
03:11 It was a well-taken goal as well, wasn't it?
03:14 Yes, a really well-taken goal and Christian has been brilliant for us so far. He was very, very good in pre-season.
03:18 Really good to get 90 minutes in to him today as well. One of the things we've been working towards is building Christian up to getting that 90 minutes.
03:25 So, a very, very well-taken goal and he's a very good player.
03:28 But even in his stoppage time, you're still closing people down and giving it all. So, fitness levels are right?
03:32 The fitness levels are there. He's got the energy and Christian can really lead the line in terms of what we want to do defensively.
03:38 We see that we can work out with Colby in terms of what he does and the way that he presses.
03:43 He gets his rewards off the back of that with his goals and I think Christian can be the same.
03:46 What can that goal do for Christian Sadio now?
03:49 A massive boost in confidence. It probably gets that first goal out of the way so there's no pressure building on that.
03:56 Sometimes there's a centre-forward. It's certainly not coming from us because we just want Christian to be able to perform through the 90 minutes and give what we know he can give.
04:03 But I think sometimes internally the pressure builds when you're a centre-forward particularly coming in.
04:08 So, he really lifted that and hopefully he kicks on and scores many more.
04:12 Is he a confident lad anyway?
04:13 Yeah, Christian's a really confident lad. You can probably tell in the way that he plays.
04:16 He backs himself physically. He's got a really good touch. Very, very good technically for someone his size as well.
04:21 So, yeah, very, very confident and calm young lad.
04:24 Any developments on the latest signing?
04:27 No, nothing so far. Honestly, since we spoke yesterday, it's been real match preparation.
04:33 So, that's the advantage of me not having to focus on that and not having to make those phone calls and going back and forth on anything.
04:41 tomorrow and Thursday give us a real good slot to be able to do that.
04:44 Thank you.