Mousinho hopes to avoid 'perennial relegation fights'

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho is planning talks about the side's playing budget in the coming weeks as he seeks to move the club away from "perennial relegation fights".

Pompey's Championship survival was secured on Tuesday night, despite a 5-1 defeat at champions Coventry, as Oxford United's 1-0 defeat by Wrexham meant they could no longer catch the Blues, who are seven points ahead with just two games to play.

Portsmouth had one of the Championship's lowest playing budgets last season but still lost over £4m and were heavily reliant on the backing of chairman Michael Eisner as they finished five points clear of the relegation zone in their first season back in the second tier following promotion from League One.

Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent: "The investment we've put in terms of the infrastructure has been amazing, considering where we were as a club [when Eisner came in] in 2017 and previously, when the fans saved the club.

"But we're still a long, long way behind other Championship clubs in terms of infrastructure, in terms of the training ground, staff networks, all of those sort of things, so we have got to keep going with that.

He added: "I think we have to take a view in terms of where we want to be with the playing budget and I think that's going to be a conversation over the next couple of weeks.

"If we don't invest, on and off the pitch, I think we'll perennially be in this relegation fight and we need to try to move away from it."

Mousinho said he was keen to establish the club's strategy over a five to 10-year period, adding: "The strategy over the past couple of years has been very short term and we've just been making sure we are focused on staying in the Championship.

"We have spent money but we have brought players in who are not necessarily ones for the future."

Asked about the possibility of Premier League promotion and his own contentment with life at Fratton Park, Mousinho said: "We're a little bit away from the Premier League, that's probably the next step.

"We've been here three and a half years, we very much enjoy living here as a family, it's a lovely part of the world - and if we could match that with Premier League football, it's the best of everything."

Mousinho, 39, said his main emotion after securing safety was relief, despite the context of the heavy defeat at Coventry.