The answer Portsmouth faithful asking where front-footed football is were handed at Derby County

And the Blues boss was heartened by the reaction the 3,120 fans gave his side after their 1-1 draw against the play-off chasers.

Pompey produced periods of football which the home side couldn’t contend with at Pride Park, after coming through an early firestorm. That lasted until the last third of the game when Derby again came on strong.

Mousinho believes his side have a lot of learning to do, but are showing signs of taking on board how he wants to play.

He said: ‘We want to be able to play, but we have to recognise when sides press us with a six against our side - that is not the time to play.

‘That’s especially when we have a real attacking threat up front, not just with Colby and Joe but Paddy’s ability to run it behind. We have to recognise that and recognise when we do have overloads and we can play.

‘In the second half of the first half we recognised that really well and we mixed it quite nicely.

‘We went direct and picked up the second balls and we played from there, creating some really good chances. We put some really good crosses in and I think we’re getting there.

‘It’s a really long road to make sure we play consistently how we want to play - but we’re getting there.

‘The fan reaction showed they appreciated at the very least the effort the boys put in. I’m sure they appreciated some of the football in the first half after the first 15 minutes.

‘It was really nice to go and thank them for coming up when there was nothing to play for in the league.

‘It's a long, old trip from the south coast and they’ve done that all season. In periods of the game in an intimidating atmosphere you could only hear the Portsmouth fans. So credit to them for that, we’re going to need a lot more of that next season - and I’m sure they will provide it.

It’s been a criticism of Pompey they haven’t been able to go to the division’s strongest sides and get results this season. Mousinho knows that has to be sorted moving forward and felt the display at Derby was a step in the right direction on that front.

He added: ‘If we want to have any chance of competing in this league next year it was something we have to do. We have to come away to sides like this where it’s really tough.

‘You see their players coming off the bench and they have a huge amount of quality in their squad. We know that and we have to deal with that.

‘We also have that and are working towards that in our squad, so coming away to top-six sides and getting a point and then wins is the ultimate aim.’

asdasdada