Portsmouth boss' remarkably honest admission over his strongest team ahead of West Brom and Burnley

And the Blues boss still sees it taking time to find the right Blues formula, as his side return to action against West Brom.

Championship football is back for Mousinho’s men against the Baggies tomorrow after the international break, with a lengthy injury list starting to clear for the game.

It’s also been a summer where much of the club’s recruitment has come late in the transfer window, which was in sharp contrast to last summer.

That means players are bedding in and getting used to what Mousinho requires from them, as he conveys his game idea to new faces.

The Pompey boss acknowledged he need to bed his team down and find the right line-up as a result.

Mousinho said: ‘I think so (it will take time for the best team to become apparent).

‘I think it’s only now that we’ve got the squad to select from. That’s not just in terms of players coming back, but players also being in the building for a decent period of time.

‘But even then we haven’t really had that, with Mark (O’Mahony) having two training sessions.

‘We want to get them back, into the fold and make sure the players know us as well as us knowing them, before we properly settle on the starting XI we want to use going forward.

‘But, having said that, we do chop and change things anyway and there will be seven or eight of those players who will definitely be on the team sheet every week, but things change about that.

‘Players always have the opportunity to come in and impress, so we take that day by day and week by week.’

Mousinho offered last season up as evidence of how things can shift when making judgements on Pompey’s squad.

Conor Shaughnessy’s emergence is the oft-used example, while there was relatively little fanfare afforded Alex Robertson and Abu Kamara’s arrivals last year.

On the other hand, hopes were high for Gavin Whyte and Anthony Scully with both going on to have disappointing Fratton stays.

Mousinho said: ‘Things evolve very quickly. We want to give players opportunities, if they come in and impress, whether that’s in training or in games.

‘Whether it’s a kit or a training top, any time they pull it on they have to feel they are representing the football club and pushing for a place in the starting line-up.

‘We try to see that day in, day out in everything we do. We then try to take an objective judgement on what we see.’