Portsmouth boss John Mousinho delivers verdict on 'really impressive' Sunderland
Sunderland host Portsmouth at the Stadium of Light on Sunday afternoon.
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho has hailed Sunderland as “one of the best sides” in the Championship, but believes his team will head into Sunday’s meeting between the two at the Stadium of Light with significantly less pressure on their shoulders.
The Black Cats ran out comfortable 3-1 winners in the reverse fixture at Fratton Park back in August, and have since kicked on to put themselves in real contention for a promotion push this term. By contrast, Pompey currently sit just one place and one point outside of the relegation zone, but did record an eye-catching 4-0 victory over Swansea City in their most recent outing.
And taking all of that into account, Mousinho is of the opinion that his side has much less to lose than their hosts when they make the long trip north this weekend. Speaking in a press conference ahead of the clash, he said: “We've played Sunderland once already this season. I think they were very comfortable winners at Fratton Park and will hopefully see a very different side to us by the time we go and play them on Sunday, because I think we've got a very different outlook in terms of the squad, in terms of players, in terms of the way that we're playing as well.
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“And to be honest, we're always going into games with pressure on our shoulders because we want to win every game, but the pressure is going to be on Sunderland to go and win the game at home. They've got a really, really good record.
“We can go and play with a bit of freedom, I think, and the shackles should be off when we go and play these top sides in the division. I think that doesn't mean we're going to play with this laissez-faire attitude, but certainly we can maybe relax a bit more into the game, I think, which might help us.”
When asked about Regis Le Bris’ side again later in his press conference, Mousinho added: "They've been one of the best sides in the league all year. Really, really impressive."