Pompey are buzzing to be in deep end
PORTSMOUTH’S promotion-clinching hero Conor Shaughnessy is relishing the prospect of being thrown straight in at the Championship deep end.
Pompey, back in the second tier for the first time in 12 years, open up their campaign at red-hot title favourites Leeds today.
The rollercoaster is yet to be built that could accurately represent Portsmouth’s fortunes since their Premier League and FA Cup glory days in the noughties.
Along with the relegations – down as far as League Two – the club and its fans have endured financial crises, administrations, points deductions and even a winding-up order.
But Shaughnessy (top) insists there is a real buzz back at Fratton Park – and that a club that has been the poor relation on the south coast in recent years is on the rise again.
Shaughnessy, 28, said:
“It feels like there is a massive buzz around and maybe the club is about to take off again. It was there last season, and there is huge anticipation now.
“The atmosphere at home games last season was fantastic, the fans really got behind the team and I’m sure we will carry that forward.
“But the success we had getting into this division is in the past now, we have to focus on the challenge ahead.
“It will be a very different test, we know how tough this league is. We have been thrown right in at the deep end with a trip to Leeds, the title favourites. But why not, maybe it’s not the worst time to play them.
“It’s a really exciting prospect for both us players and the fans, and we will attack that game head on with absolutely everything we have.
“The manager demands high standards around the place and tells us when he needs more. But we also demand it of ourselves.”
Last season Ipswich set the bar very high for teams coming up from League One, making it back to back promotions and reaching the Premier League.
John Mousinho’s (inset) squad may not have enough quality to do anything similar and Shaughnessy added: “What happened with Ipswich last season is the fairytale. We aren’t going to be getting ahead of ourselves thinking like that, it will be one game at a time.
“We have to build, stay positive. What they did was near miraculous, and they had an excellent season.”
And on the prospect of one day soon locking horns with fierce rivals Southampton as well as Brighton and
Bournemouth in the top flight, he said: “We have taken a big step in the right direction to doing something about that.
“We are a big club and feel like we deserve to be heading in that direction. And it would be a dream to have all four in the Premier League at the same time for the first time.”