Portsmouth boss’ exciting message as Oxford United signing serves notice to Championship ahead of Burnley

The Blues boss believes the summer arrival is now coming to the peak of his powers, as he put his Fratton false start behind him against West Brom.

Murphy finally got his first competitive appearance under his belt, after six weeks out with an ankle injury picked up in his new side’s final pre-season warm-up against Charlton.

There are high hopes for what the winger can achieve, as Pompey beat off competition from a host of Championship sides to capture Murphy’s signature.

That was as the 29-year-old became a free agent this summer, after helping Oxford United to reach the second tier with some outstanding form last term.

The signs certainly look promising for Pompey on the evidence of Murphy’s performance on Saturday, as he produced a performance of grace and searing pace at Fratton Park.

Mousinho expressed disappointment he had to take his former U’s team-mate off for Sammy Silvera in the 62nd minute, as he managed his injury return.

But the Pompey head coach is confident there is now plenty of growth to come from the Londoner, with Burnley to come next weekend before Sheffield United arrive at PO4,

Mousinho said: ‘Josh was excellent and a constant threat on that left-hand side.

‘I’m really, really pleased to have him in a Portsmouth shirt.

‘The only disappointment was we had to manage him and bring him off after 60 minutes.

‘We don’t want to risk anything with Josh coming back from injury after that time out.

Once we see more from him getting fitter and fitter there will be plenty more to come.

‘I thought he showed a huge amount going forward and did his job well defensively as well, too.

‘There’s loads more to come from Josh, that’s the most exciting thing.

‘I think he’s coming to the peak of his career, has got himself in fantastic physical condition and has the quality to back it up as well.’