Pompey are a better Championship away team than they were for much of last season.

That may be a bold thing for John Mousinho to state a day or two before the Blues face one of their stiffest tests of the season so far - at Leicester on Saturday night.

But you can see where he's coming from.

He told the Pompey website: 'We’re now a bit more defined in our playing style away from home. We’ve been solid and pragmatic, having taken half a season to adjust last time. There were a huge number of things we thought about in regards to how we could do better and after that heavy defeat at West Brom in January, there was an improvement.

'We started to lose matches by no more than a goal – which we still weren’t happy with – but also picked up a couple of really good wins. That was down to a few tactical tweaks. We’re still frustrated about some points we’ve left on the table – both home and away – and are not getting carried away.'

Mousinho is measured about what Pompey should be aiming to achieve in the league this season. He added: 'First and foremost, the aim is to once again stay in this league and become an established Championship team, so we’ll always be wary of what’s behind us.

'But you can also have ambition and an approach where we look to win every game and try to finish as high as we can.'

Mousinho described third-placed Leicester as 'extremely dangerous' and said: 'We have watched them on a number of occasions and there are threats all over the pitch. Martí Cifuentes has done an excellent job since going there.'

After the trip to the east Midlands, Pompey host Coventry on Tuesday and Stoke next Saturday. Josh Murphy is expected to make his comeback from injury at some stage during that week at home.

Photo: Action Images

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