‘It does…’: Portsmouth boss on what’s at stake in defining period against Oxford United, QPR, Luton Town & Co

And the Blues boss acknowledged the importance of his side not only continuing their charge towards Championship safety, but potentially taking points off those rivals around them in the division’s lower reaches in the weeks ahead.

Tuesday’s win over Cardiff City marked the start of a run of fixtures against opposition in the bottom half of the table, with five of the next six outings against foes in 13th place or lower.

Mousinho’s men go to Oxford United this weekend with 10 points from the past seven outings, form which would have them comfortably in the top half of the table if replicated over the course of the season.

Now the challenge is to build on those foundations with less than a third of a campaign to go and the likes of QPR, Luton Town and Plymouth on the horizon. Mousinho wasn’t hiding away from the significance of what comes next, with it now the business end of the campaign.

He said: ‘It does (feel like a defining period).

‘I don’t think it’s just opposition related, though that will be the assumption.

‘I just think it’s the stage of the season we’re at, we’re very much into the final third of the season.

‘Once the window closes everyone knows what their squad looks like, everyone knows what their team looks like and there’s no further change.

‘So, yes, it does feel like a period where we need to pick up as many points as we can.

‘It was a good start against Cardiff and we just need to keep going with that.

‘That’s important as well (taking points off relegation rivals) and there are many sides that we play from now until the end of the season that are in and around we are. So, yes, those will be games which will take on more significance.’