Not a mid-table Championship side yet - Mousinho

Portsmouth still have things to learn to become a mid-table Championship side, says head coach John Mousinho.

Mousinho's side visit Preston on Saturday, having lost 2-1 at home to bottom-of-the-table Plymouth on Wednesday evening.

"We are where we are - the league table at this stage of the season is a perfect reflection of where you are as a side," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"If you look at that sort of game last season, if you stay in it until the 92nd or 93rd minute, you give yourself a chance to pop up with a set-piece or a mistake, score a late goal and that's what we need to do better if we're going to progress as a side."

Portsmouth have won four of their past six games to move seven points clear of the relegation zone as they head to Deepdale but Mousinho believes they still have work to do.

"I've been banging on about it for ages - in a week you can pick up nine points and things change very quickly," he said.

"There are teams we've played who I thought would be up into mid-table obscurity or challenging for the play-offs but are suddenly below us, or vice versa, and we have to be really, really careful about what we do now."