Saturday seems like a good time for Pompey to pick up more Championship points - given that they won't be adding to their total for the next three weeks that follow.

They're not alone in that forthcoming drought, of course - the extra-long international break means no Championship action between this weekend and that of October 10/11 - when Pompey go to St Mary's on the Sunday.

Nevertheless, no-one wants to be a team heading into the elongated down time on the back of a defeat. It's a long time to dwell on it and look at the league table working out where you would be with another three points behind you.

That makes Blackburn's visit to Fratton an important day in this fledging Championship season, and John Mousinho is keen to pick up the rewards from it to back up a home win over Cardiff and draw at Charlton that have lifted much of the gloom that desceneded when Pompey lost two on the trot in the first week of September.

The boss told the Pompey website: 'We’ve got to the first break without any real fixture congestion, especially with the Wolves game being rearranged. But it gets a lot busier when we return and with that in mind, we need to make sure everyone gets fully up to scratch.

'We’ve shored things up at the back in the past two games and are trying to find a balance in our front four, which we haven’t always managed. We are a bit short up top because of the injuries we’ve got at the moment and are trying to find some solutions, but we’re confident about what we can do when people click and we get a few boys back.

'There will be a little bit of time off at the start of the international break, which will be useful from a physical perspective. Then we’ll be able to come back and train really hard for the two-and-a-half weeks leading up to the derby.

'But we’re focused on facing Blackburn right now and they’ve had an okay points return so far, with a deserved win over Millwall last week. There have been other games when they haven’t necessarily got the result their performance deserved, but they’ve got decent players and are a real threat.

'It’s important for us to produce a strong showing and hopefully get the outcome that sends us into the break with a positive mindset.'

Marko Milovanović is rated as 50/50 for Saturday but other injured troops won't be back until after the international break - with winger Keshi Anderson is 'the most advanced' and looking likely to be available for involvement at Southampton.

Mousinho said Josh Murphy and Connor Ogilvie were probably a couple of weeks behind him, while Luke Brooke-Smith is out until the new year.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters