It’s a huge period for the League One champion: Pompey boss John Mousinho makes it clear what’s required of Paddy Lane ahead of Championship opener at Oxford United next week.

Paddy Lane has been tasked with finding his best Pompey form to make it as a Championship player.

John Mousinho believes the League One title winner showed ‘glimpses’ of his potential in a tough second-tier baptism.

Pompey boss makes it clear what’s needed from League One champion

But now Lane has to make the transition to the level and prove his worth to the Blues squad, in what is a huge period for the winger.

The 24-year-old has enjoyed a clear run of availability in pre-season, after having his season curtailed by a knee injury picked up at Blackburn in January.

Mousinho has been clear over how significant the coming weeks and months are for the £250,000 signing from Fleetwood.

The Blues boss told Lane he needs to make a ‘massive impact’ this term going into the summer, following a tough term where he produced a single goal and assists from 24 outings before injury struck.

That followed on from an outstanding League One term in which the Northern Ireland international delivered 20 goals, comprising 12 goals and eight assists, as Pompey soared to title glory.

With Pompey hunting for winger reinforcements, the task now for Lane is to step up and show they already have the required quality in the building.

Mousinho said: ‘The challenge remains the same for all the players and Pads is no exception.

‘We need to make sure players push to get into the first team and impress as much as possible, the challenge is there for all of them.

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‘He showed glimpses last year after a beginning to last season where everybody struggled.

‘I don’t think anyone could really look at the start and say they deserved a place in the team, or they were outstanding.

‘Paddy then settled down and, to be honest, by the time he picked up that injury at Blackburn he’d been in the side relatively consistently over the past couple of months.

‘He picked up his first goal against Swansea and I thought he looked a lot better, a lot fitter coming back from a minor injury as well.

‘So I think definitely Pads should look at himself and think about what he can produce when he gets to that level.

‘Having been out, and he’s been out for a long time, it’s a really important thing to think about with the nature of his injury. So I think it’s a good challenge for Pad.’

Positive pre-season for Lane after injury pain at Blackburn

It’s been a busy week for Lane, as he yesterday banked more minutes in Pompey’s 4-0 behind-closed-doors win against Brighton under-21s.

He played the final 30 minutes of that success, coming off the back of a 62-minute outing in the 0-0 draw at Hawks on Tuesday evening.

It means Lane has featured in all of Pompey’s pre-season games so far, with Dutch side PEC Zwolle to come ahead of next week’s Championship opener at Oxford United.

Mousinho was pleased Lane adapted to the challenge on playing on the 3G surface at Westleigh Park, as he gains the minutes he needs to attack the new campaign.

Mousinho added: ‘I thought Paddy did really well under the circumstances (at Hawks). It’s not necessarily a pitch where your wingers can get on the ball and drive away from people, because of the fact the ball gets stuck in the surface.

‘So for Paddy it was about getting the minutes and making sure he came through it unscathed.’