The well-respected former England, Newcastle, Manchester City and Leicester coach John Mousinho has turned to for extra advice - and those who are lined up as Portsmouth boss seeks pointers

The new Blues head coach said he’s ready to pick up the phone and ask for advice as he gets to grips with his first managerial appointment.

So far, the 36-year-old has made the leap from a player/coach at Oxford United to top dog at Fratton Park appear seamless.

Seven points from his first four games in charge have helped lift the mood around PO4, with Pompey only collecting 11 League One points from 14 matches prior to Danny Cowley’s sacking.

A huge test awaits at high-flying Plymouth tomorrow, with the Pilgrims retaining their place in the automatic promotion places and keen to bounce back from a rare defeat at Sheffield Wednesday last weekend.

Home Park boss Steven Schumacher is one of those Mousinho is keen speak to, having got to know him while working together on their UEFA Pro Licences.

That catch-up has been put off for obvious reasons. But once Saturday’s game is out of the way, the open-minded Blues boss won’t hesitate in picking his brains – or that of others he feels can relate to his position at Pompey.

That includes Swansea’s Russell Martin, Mark Bonner at Cambridge and Luton head coach Rob Edwards.

When asked if he had sought advise from outside the club as his search for a No2 continues, Mousinho said: ‘Yeah, a couple of other young managers.

‘One of the people I was going to speak to, but I won’t obviously until after the weekend, is Steven Schumacher. He did text me.

‘But there’s people like Steven Schumacher, Russell Martin – just two people that pop out at the top of my head.

‘There’s also Mark Bonner, who was on the UEFA Pro Licence with me as well.

‘They’re all guys who have really valuable insights into what it’s like to lead sides at this level.

‘There’s another one who I didn’t know before this process, Rob Edwards. In terms of his connection with Richard Hughes, he’s another perfect one for me to lean on.

‘I haven’t properly made all those connections yet but I’m working on it. Once we get next weeks out of the way and things just settle down a bit, then I think they’re really important conversations to have.

‘They can point me in the right direction, warn about pitfalls and advise on quick wins – things that I might be doing anyway, but they’ll still be really good conversations to have.’

Mousinho said he’s already been in touch with former Oxford boss Karl Robinson and gathered the thoughts of well-respected coach Derek Fazackerley, who has enjoyed coaching roles at England, Newcastle, Manchester City, Leicester, Huddersfield and Bolton, among others.

However, he admitted confidants from outside of football have also be contacted.

Mousinho added: ‘I had a long conversation with Karl Robinson, whose been managing for 14 years now.

‘I also spoke Derek Fazackerley. I’ve reached out and spoken to him and bumped into him at the Oxford v Barnsley game as well.

‘There’s a whole wide range of people outside of football as well who it is very useful to bounce ideas off.

‘They offer a fresh set of eyes and a different perspective and I think they’re quite useful because sometimes you can become a bit insular in football.

‘It’s actually really useful sometimes to get someone else to just go: “have you thought about this?” or “have you thought about that?”

‘So it’s a wide, wide range.’