Former Portsmouth midfielder Charlie Bell makes Wessex League leaders AFC Portchester his FOURTH club of the 2022/23 season

The former Portsmouth midfielder has left Moneyfields and could make his Royals debut in tomorrow’s ‘El Creekio’ Wessex Premier derby at Fareham Town.

Bell started the season at Bognor Regis before a short stint with Horsham was followed by signing for Moneys in October.

He scored nine times in 19 appearances for Moneys, including two in December’s 3-3 draw with table-topping Portchester.

‘He’s been in good form for Moneyfields,’ said Royals boss Dave Carter. ‘He was someone who was on our radar for the summer anyway.

‘We’ve got a few injuries in midfield so we thought we’d bring him in now, see if he enjoys working with us, with a view to staying on next season.’

Bell – good friends with Royals striker Harrison Brook, who he knows from their time at Pompey together – completed a four-game suspension when Moneyfields were knocked out of the Portsmouth Senior Cup at Horndean on Tuesday.

He had been handed the punishment for post-game comments made to the referee after being sent off for two bookable offences in a Wessex game with Christchurch in January.

Portchy midfielders Jake Raine, Ryan Wilkins and Steve Ramsey, meanwhile, have all reported injuries in recent weeks.

Raine and Ramsey could be fit for selection this weekend, but Wilkins is another week away.

Portchester could start a huge week of Wessex action by becoming only the second club in the top nine tiers of English football to score 100 league goals in 2022/23.

The Royals took their Premier Division tally to 97 in 28 matches with a 5-1 thumping of Pagham in midweek.

So far, Southern Combination League leaders Newhaven are the only club in the top nine tiers to have celebrated a century of goals.

The Sussex club have plundered 103 so far in 30 matches - though Portchester (3.46 goals per game) have a better scoring ratio than Newhaven (3.43).

The ‘El Creekio’ derby is the first of three intriguing matches in the space of eight days for a Royals side currently nine points clear at the top.

Though Fareham are mid-table, they will obviously be up for a derby - as they were when they beat Portchester in the semi-final of the Wessex League Cup last season.

After that, the Royals host Hamble Club on Tuesday and PO postcode rivals Moneyfields the following Saturday.

The Hamble game has added spice due to the fact it will be the third time this season the Monks will have visited the On-Site Group Stadium.

First, the game was abandoned at half-time in November due to an injury suffered by a visiting player. The Royals were 2-0 up at the time.

Then the re-match was also abandoned, around the 70-minute mark, due to the floodlights failing shortly after Hamble had taken a 2-0 lead.

The Moneyfields game always has a healthy dose of added spice due to the fact Carter was in charge at Dover Road for over five years.

Now, following Bell’s switch, it could have a bit more…