‘Brilliant relationship’: Portsmouth boss set to be reunited with key Derby County figure and Oxford United influence

And the Pompey boss acknowledged the impact Rams head of recruitment, Mark Thomas, had on his own transition into football management as they meet again at Pride Park.

Friday’s Championship clash will see Mousinho meet the man who took him to Oxford United seven years ago, in his background role at the Kassam Stadium.

Thomas went on to have significant transfer success in his time with the U’s, leading to Derby making their move last year for the figure who spent four years as an analyst at Fratton Park until 2014.

He was also believed to have been heavily considered for the role assumed so successfully by Rich Hughes at Fratton Park in 2022, but now finds in the opposite camp to Mousinho.

The Pompey boss said: ‘Mark recruited me at Oxford, so he’s clearly a genius!

‘Mark was the head of recruitment who brought me in as a player when I left Burton.

‘I had a really good relationship with Mark and he did some excellent things at Oxford, bringing in players who’ve gone on to do really good things.

‘It’s no surprise to me that he’s gone on to Derby and overseen everything going on there over the past couple of seasons.

‘He was someone who was here as well and I have a brilliant relationship with him. I hope he does well, but doesn’t have a good weekend because his recruits aren’t as good as ours basically!’

Thomas’ record in his nine years at Oxford makes for impressive viewing with the likes of Kemar Roofe, Luke McNally, Rob Dickie, Rob Atkinson and Gavin Whyte brought in and moved for big profits.

Mousinho explained working with Thomas at close quarters ahelped with his education, as he transitioned from player to management.

He added: ‘There were some really good centre-halves I played alongside in those times. Rob Dickie, Rob Atkinson, Luke McNally, Elliott Moore who’s still there and Curtis Nelson who’s still at Derby.

‘There’s quite a few players who’ve gone on to play Championship football and it was a big part of Oxford’s model to do that.

‘Certainly towards the back end of my time at Oxford, the manager allowed me the privilege of sitting in on recruitment meetings.

‘I got to have a real insight into what it took to be a head coach, not just the coaching and man-management side but what you have to do on the recruitment side which is massively important.

‘I came in (to Pompey) during a January transfer window where recruitment was right up there, went into a summer window where we did 14 new signings and the same this year. So you can tell how important recruitment is - and that gave me a good insight into what it’s like.’