Ibane Bowat has been backed to emerge from his injury darkness at full throttle next season.
And Pompey boss John Mousinho has moved to correct inaccuracies around the reported £500,000 fee said to have been paid for the Fulham man last summer.
Mousinho has explained how the scheduling for Bowat’s recovery from the serious knee injury suffered after his arrival at Fratton Park, could leave him well placed to kickstart his Blues career next term.
The central defender suffered the pain of rupturing his patella tendon in training before kicking a competitive ball, after signing on transfer deadline day.
Mousinho has told how the long road of recovery would have left the 22-year-old in a ‘dark place’, with the head coach experiencing a similar issue in his own playing days.
Mousinho said: ‘Ibane’s been great around the place and kept himself at it in his rehab.
‘It’s a really tough one when you’re in a knee brace for so long and pretty much immobile. It limits what you can do in the gym.
‘You’ve got to keep yourself going and keep yourself at it – it’s a really tough and dark place physically and mentally.
‘Ibane has kept himself going really well and is a big part of the group.
‘For us, it’s just a case of if he’s available to train in the summer we get him back up to speed and he’s ready for pre-season – and then impact us next season.
‘I think with the way his injury is going to work out, the length of time he’s going to be out means he’s going to have a really long, solid block going into pre-season next year.
‘That will be before we ask him to do anything from a game perspective, so I think that will do him good.’
Mousinho has also corrected the £500,000 fee which was reported to have been paid for Bowat, as his move to Pompey was sealed. The Blues boss made it clear the figure was ‘wildly higher’ than the amount agreed with Fulham to secure his services.
Mousinho added: ‘We didn’t pay too much for Ibane, the reported fees were wildly higher than what we did pay for him. I think we got a really good deal with him, without knowing the ins and outs of it.
‘The more important thing, though, is that when he does come back and does train he has that time to get back into the squad.’
