John Mousinho believes a look at the final bottom eight clubs in the Championship tells you how well Pompey did to survive with points and places to spare in thejr first season after promotion.

The Blues finished the season last Saturday in 16th place - having spent much of the first two thirds of the season in the bottom three.

Relegated trio Plymouth, Cardiff and Luton were joined by Hull, Preston, Derby, Stoke and Oxford in finishing beneath Mousinho's men in the table - and there's at least one or two there who few would have predicted ending below Pompey.

Speaking after the last game, at home to Hull, ended in a 1-1 draw, Mousinho told the club media: 'We wanted to conclude the season strongly and five games unbeaten is a good return, especially because, in terms of staying up, we didn’t have anything to play for in the final two.

'There were times in the season when we would have taken finishing 21st, so to end up in 16th sounds pretty good. When you look at some of the clubs that are below us in the table, then I do think it’s a great achievement.

'It was nice to celebrate with all four sides of the ground after the final whistle because our home form is down to the fans. The season has been successful at times, stressful at times and horrendous at times, but now there’s the pressure of making sure we keep improving as a football club.'

Pompey are expected to release their retained list by the end of the week - with seven players out of contract and perhaps two or three others still under a deal also likely to be in the spotlight.

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