Pompey head coach John Mousinho is urging his players to give their all for their 1,600-strong travelling army at Plymouth.

Mousinho has been hugely impressed with the Blues' support since he took over the team three weeks ago and expects the side to get some fulsome backing at Home Park.

He takes the Blues there on the back of having picked up two wins, one draw and one defeat from his first four games in charge and is relishing the battle.

'For us to sell out for what is a long journey is absolutely amazing — I’ve already had a taste of that support at Fleetwood and Peterborough," Mousinho told the club website.

'It’s going to be brilliant to see them out in force on Saturday and hopefully they’ll be able to reverse the atmosphere. Someone mentioned to me that it’s a bit tasty and I like it when there’s something there due to recent history, even when it’s not a derby or proper rivalry. It’s something we can relish.

'There might have been people thinking that Plymouth’s chance was up after just missing out on the play-offs last season. But I know Steven Schumacher well — he’s an excellent young coach and has really managed to get them going.

'They’ve been top for most of the season and only dropped off last week when they were pretty unlucky to lose away to Sheffield Wednesday. We know that Plymouth are a well organised outfit, but they also play good football and we’re expecting a tough encounter.”

Mousinho has a number of players still recovering from injury but they are all progressing well.

He said Joe Rafferty - out since September - was 'close to being ready for selection' and added: 'It’s something we’re monitoring every day because we want to make sure he’s okay. Zak Swanson is now training with us again, while Tom Lowery is on the grass with a modified session and progressing well. He’s probably a couple of weeks away still.

'Clark Robertson, Jay Mingi and Ronan Curtis are also on the grass and in different stages of their rehabilitation. Ronan is hopefully back with us at some point next week. For the other two, it’s probably weeks rather than months.'

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