Portsmouth boss answers crucial question over size of playing budget next season to compete with Charlton Athletic, Bristol Rovers, Lincoln City & Co

The Blues boss is confident he will receive the level of backing from the club’s owners with a ‘healthy’ kitty to launch a realistic chance of achieving success next term.

Mousinho expects clarity over the exact figures moving forward, now it appears his side are going to be stuck in League One for a SEVENTH season.

Pompey’s existing playing budget is believed to be in excess of £4m, with the 36-year-old confident that figure will rise as he assembles a squad for his first full season at the helm.

Mousinho said: ‘The answer is the backing will be there this summer.

‘There’s a distinct possibility it will (the playing budget will go up).

‘We haven’t sorted it out yet, because we wanted to wait to see what league we will be in, but now it looks like we know we can look at budgets for next season. There’s not going to be any huge rush, but either way it’s a healthy budget and we’re in a good spot.

‘I completely knew what it would be coming into the role and if I didn’t think we could have a tilt at doing something with this budget, then I’m not sure I’d be in the job with all the expectations and pressure.

‘I think it all fits together and it all makes sense to me, we’re going to spend what we can afford to spend and we’re going to spend that wisely. We think if we do that and get everything right on and off the pitch, we can certainly have a good next year.’

Pompey’s spending power currently pales against the division’s heaviest hitters such at Ipswich Town, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday.

No one is expecting a change in policy to reach the levels they operate at, with the owners committing £28m to the club since they bought it in 2017.

Mousinho admitted he can empathise with fans wanting to see things accelerated financially on the playing side of the club’s operation, however.

He added: ‘There’s no secret about what that support will be. I think everyone has been really open about what that is, certainly from my standpoint, in terms of what the owners are going to do and where the money is going to go. I think that is definitely the right thing to do in terms of the ownership and what we’re looking to achieve here.

‘Over the past five years they’ve managed to take this club and make it very financially stable. I know that is something fans aren’t too excited about, I completely understand that and get it, I’m a football fan as well and if the Tottenham owner said the club is financially stable it doesn’t really get the juices flowing.

‘I suppose you don’t really know what it’s like until you’re on the other side of it - and Portsmouth fans know what it’s like to be on the other side of it, with a lack of financial sustainability and the club going to the brink. When you’re not really in it you can forget how difficult it is.

‘Fans want to see their budgets increase and they want to see spending, I completely get that. So when we sit down we can hopefully come to an agreement on what the budget is and go from there, to start moving forward with some of the recruitment we’re looking at.’