JOHN Mousinho says he does not fear the size of the clubs that will be competing in Sky Bet League One this forthcoming campaign.

Sheffield Wednesday fell through the Championship trapdoor last season, while Bolton Wanderers achieved promotion from League Two.

Those two sides, with large fanbases and Premier League pedigree, join the likes of Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town, Portsmouth and Sunderland who will all be seeking promotion from League One next season.

However, the history and size of these clubs does not faze Mousinho, who says he relishes playing against such opposition.

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He said: “There’s always been plenty of big sides that have come down, and sometimes those huge sides get stuck down here, like Sunderland are for example.

“It’s great for us, it’s great to have that level of competition and to have that amount of big sides down here.

“I love going away to the bigger grounds, I think it’s a really good challenge and you have to challenge yourselves against the top sides in the league.

“A big part of it for us is that we don’t play the club and the history, we’re just playing against eleven other men.

“It’s going to be competitive, there’s a lot of those larger names in the division but I think we’ve shown over the last couple of years that shouldn’t actually faze us.

“We’ve got that ability to work beyond that and break through those mental barriers, and make sure we do compete at the top end.”

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Until the beginning of the month, there was still the possibility that Derby County would be added to the extensive list of bigger teams in League One next season.

The Rams were at risk of a points deduction for their accounting policies.

The points deduction would have seen Wayne Rooney’s side relegated to League One, with Wycombe Wanderers staying in the Championship, having finished a point behind Derby.

As it was, the English Football League decided not to appeal against a decision by a disciplinary commission, and the Rams kept their place in the Championship.

Mousinho however admitted that United’s players had an eye on a clash with Derby.

He said: “No disrespect to Wycombe, we were half hoping that Wycombe might remain in the Championship and Derby would go down.

“Derby is another fantastic club, they’re former First Division champions, so to go and test yourself at that sort of level is the sort of mindset we’re in.”

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The U’s squad has been in Bournemouth since Sunday, and Mousinho said the pre-season camp has a number of benefits for the players.

“There’s a lot of advantages to going away, you can fit three or four sessions in a day,” he said.

“You’re spending every minute of every day with the squad – there’s a lot to be said for that, team bonding can occur.

“Just the fact you’re in with the lads every day, you can have different conversations with different people in a different environment.

“That’s brilliant from a team perspective, and what you get from these trips, there’s a huge amount of hard work that goes into them and that bonds you as a team.”

United play their first pre-season friendly at Oxford City tomorrow.