Forget what the rivals are doing - let's concentrate on ourselves. That's John Mousinho's call to arms ahead of a big Fratton Park clash with Derby that awaits Pompey on Monday evening.

And with all those rivals having picked up wins since this time last week, the need for three points against the Rams is more acute than it was.

There were midweek wins last week for Leicester and Oxford - and on Saturday West Brom and Blackburn ramped up the pressure in the bottom section of the table with victories over Hull and Millwall respectively.

Pompey head into their Derby clash in 20th place but only one point above the drop zone, and only two ahead of 23rd placed Leicester. In their advantage is that they have 10 games left and all their rivals have only eight.

John Mousinho is eager for the Blues to past last Tuesday's loss to Swansea behind them with a positive performance against John Eustace's team.

He told club media: 'Even the top sides in the world have bad days – we saw it in the Champions League earlier in the week. The problem for us is that we didn’t take the points we should have done in previous games and that made Swansea more of an issue.

'We now have two matches before the international break and another couple in quick succession after it – and this period could be season defining. I know that everyone watches the other results, but the only thing that matters is how many points we can accumulate, so that’s all we’re focusing on.

'We’ve had some big shouts for a penalty that haven’t been given and other small moments that aren’t quite going for us at Fratton Park lately. It’s been very marginal – certainly against Sheffield United and Hull – and we haven’t got the rub of the green, but we still need to be better.

'Derby have been really good this season and are pushing for the play-offs after making some impactful signings – Patrick Agyemang is one that stands out. They’ve really kicked on duing this campaign and deserve to be where they are right now, while I’m sure Ebou is looking forward to facing his former club.'

Pompey report Regan Poole and Conor Shaughnessy are both in line to be available to face Derby, while Keshi Anderson and Andre Dozzell should be fit after the international break.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters