'A big project': Portsmouth boss addresses first-team disappearance of much-vaunted summer signing

Abdoulaye Kamara has disappeared off the radar of late, including the aftermath of a long-awaited full debut at Wycombe.

The 20-year-old featured for the full 90 minutes of that hugely disappointing FA Cup exit - and hasn’t been named in the 20-man squad for the two subsequent matches.

Overall, the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder has failed to make six of John Mousinho’s last eight squads in all competitions, having been a regular presence up until Christmas.

But while Kamara remains out of sight - he definitely continues to have a ‘long-term’ future at Fratton Park.

Mousinho told The News: ‘I thought he did some nice things at Wycombe. There’s a big project with us and Abdu to make sure he’s a bit more effective going forward the other way.

‘He drops in and plays some nice football, he takes a lot of touches on the ball. We probably want him to just operate slightly higher up and make sure he really impacts games.

‘However, Wycombe was his first start for the football club. He’s not had a huge amount of minutes, it was never going to be easy, particularly with the fact the team didn’t play particularly well. Wycombe had plenty of mitigation for certain players.

‘Abdu’s really popular within the dressing room and his language improves every day. He understands everything we are saying to him, communication hasn’t been a huge issue with him, he is switched on. I think he has settled down well.

‘It’s about being patient. He has come from a different system, has played in two different countries previously, and it takes a period of adjustment to settle over here.

‘He needs to adjust to the standard and the pace of the league and he has probably been a bit of a victim of the way we’ve tweaked the playing style over the past few weeks, it doesn't necessarily suit his game.

‘We must be patient - and Abdu was one of those signings that was a long-term one anyway.’

The signing of Isaac Hayden, coupled with Marlon Pack’s scheduled return there once his defensive sabbatical is over, ensures there’s plenty of competition for central midfield spots at present.

Hayden and Freddie Potts started the 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough, with Andre Dozzell and Owen Moxon on the bench.

As for Kamara, he missed out once more as he waits to add to his six Pompey appearances to date.

Mousinho added: ‘At the minute we are looking at the situation in the middle of the park where we have relied heavily on Potts and Dozzell to get through the majority of the games.

‘We have bolstered that with Isaac, and there are also Owen and Abdu. So we’re looking at a department we are fairly happy with.’