Football
Exclusive: Portsmouth’s Conor Shaughnessy on Tough Championship Return
Portsmouth defender Conor Shaughnessy reflects on Pompey's challenging return to the Championship after a tough start to the season. Shaughnessy discusses their near-misses, pride in promotion, and his best career moment to date.
Image Credits: Warren Little/Getty Images
Conor Shaughnessy believes Portsmouth’s start to life back in the Championship has been a baptism of fire.
Baptism of Fire for Pompey in Championship
The 28-year-old Irish defender scored the famous goal which secured Pompey the League One title last season.
It ended a painful 12-year journey to get the former Premier League club back into the second tier.
But the fixture computer could have been kinder to John Mousinho’s side on their long-awaited return to the Championship.
Leeds, Luton, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and West Brom were their first five fixtures — which yielded three draws and two defeats — with relegated Burnley and Sheffield United the next two games on the horizon.
Near Misses and Room for Improvement
Mousinho’s men are currently sat in the relegation zone awaiting their first win of the season, and the central defender told SportsBoom.com: “It’s a proper welcome to Championship football, isn’t it?”
“We’ve put in some good performances and can take a lot from those first few games.”
“We’ve come very close to coming away with some wins in those games, conceding late on.”
“You can tell there’s a higher quality you come up against, they are more intelligent players.”
“You’re more likely to get punished when you make a mistake, that’s the general feeling we have.”
“We deserve to be there as a squad going off what we did last season. I think we have the quality of player to be there and the signings we’ve made have only made us better.”
We know there’s a lot of improvement to be made, which is a good thing. We had some players come in late in the transfer window and some players coming back from injury so when the squad gels and gets to know each other we should be absolutely fine.
Conor Shaughnessy
Pride in Promotion and Personal Accolades
“It’s exciting and we’ll attack it head on.”
Shaughnessy was named in both the EFL and PFA Teams of the Season for his performances in helping Pompey get promoted.
“I was massively proud,” added Shaughnessy, part of the backline which kept an impressive 19 clean sheets last term.
“It’s something every player wants; you want to be recognised for your performances.”
“Scoring the goal to get promotion, it was definitely my best career moment to date.”
“After a great season, I think the team performed really well throughout the whole campaign, it was the perfect way to seal the title.”
It just seemed a very fitting way to do it. We weren’t at our best and managed to find a winner late on, which we had done multiple times during the season
Conor Shaughnessy
Cherishing Memories and the Pompey Fanbase
“Football’s all about special moments and it’s one I’ll never forget.”
“I’m glad there are all the videos and photos of that night and the week after where we were given the trophy, they were special, special times.”
“It didn’t really sink in at the time, but after a few months of constant reminders and watching it back and reliving it, it hits home how important it was and how much it means to the fanbase.”
“It’s such a massive fanbase and you don’t realise that until you’re in amongst it.”
Shane is a respected journalist who has covered a range of sports for a number of years.