‘No point lying about it’: Mousinho has say on promotion rivals Oxford United losing boss to Bristol City

And the Pompey boss believes his former side losing key players in the January window is a legitimate concern for them, after Manning’s departure for Bristol City.

Mousinho’s had his say on the big League One news this week, as the Blues’ rivals in the race for the Championship lost their head coach.

The 37-year-old acknowledged it’s tough to definitively call the impact of Manning leaving the Kassam Stadium, though he was honest in his assessment of how he wants it to go.

Mousinho said: ‘Who knows? That’s probably the answer.

‘The Oxford side under Liam have been going really well and challenging us at the top of the league. From that view, there will be some changes to the side whoever comes in but you never know if it’s a positive or negative.

‘I’ve been in a couple of sides where the manager has changed mid-season where we were doing well.

‘One was when Gary Rowett left for Birmingham from Burton and Jimmy-Floyd (Hasselbaink) came in - and we got better and won the league. Then a year later Jimmy went to QPR, Nigel Clough came in and we got promoted again.

‘So sometimes it works out, but sometimes it doesn’t and things get disrupted. There’s nothing we can do about that, though we probably hope it doesn’t go well for them - there’s no point in lying about that!

‘We’ll see, though. The way they’ve put things together they’ve got some excellent players regardless of whoever is head coach. They’ve recruited really well and will be strong regardless.’

The likes of Cameron Brannagan, Elliott Moore and Ruben Rodrigues have been among those to make an impact for the U’s this season - and Mousinho feels Manning returning for his old side’s players in January is on the cards.

He added: ‘It possibly is (a concern for Oxford).

‘I genuinely do feel they have a couple of Championship-calibre players. That’s something they may have to address in January.

‘Thankfully it’s an issue which can bubble away in the background and Oxford can concern themselves with, while we get on with our business this end.’