'A brilliant human being': Danny Cowley's delight at Portsmouth impact of ex-Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton man snatched from Huddersfield's grasp

Michael Morrison was heading to the Championship side five days before the start of the 2022-23 campaign – until the Blues swiftly intervened.

Instead the 34-year-old lined-up for Cowley’s men in their League One opener at Sheffield Wednesday for an impressive 3-3 draw.

The former Reading man has been an ever-present in Pompey’s league campaign so far, establishing a strong central-defensive partnership with Sean Raggett.

And Cowley has saluted Morrison’s ongoing impact, both on the pitch and in the dressing room.

The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘Michael is an outstanding professional, a brilliant human being, super focused, really intense, and incredibly professional every single day.

‘Everything he does is to the best of his ability, whether he’s preparing for games, playing a match, recovering from a game, in training or in the meeting room - you can always feel his influence.

‘You know when senior players have that ability to be able to influence and be good with the staff and good with the players. It’s that lovely balance of being able to be popular with people above them and the younger players.

‘We were patient and able to add a really good senior player. We have 12 players aged 21 and under, but they won’t get better unless you have the right senior players around them.

‘It’s brilliant when you have the opportunity to sign a player who fits in with your structure and done what he’s done in the game, playing at the level he’s played at for so long.

‘Michael joined us in the last week of pre-season, he hadn’t trained anywhere, his medical showed body fat was below eight per cent. He went straight into the game against Barnet and then played 90 minutes at Sheffield Wednesday.

‘If that was a 21-year-old, they couldn’t have done that after the previous six weeks because they don’t have the experience to get through that period.

‘I look at the way he lives his life, the consistency that he lives his life, the consistency that he trains.

‘And when you live with that much consistency, it’s no surprise you are able to perform at a consistent level as well.’

Morrison has made 10 appearances so far, albeit with a policy of largely being rested for cup competitions.

He had been rendered a free agent in the summer following 29 Championship starts for Reading last term – then Pompey swooped ahead of Huddersfield.

Cowley added: ‘Even when we got it to a really good place, it all came around pretty quickly because we thought he was going to the Championship.

‘Huddersfield came back and he honoured what he agreed, even though I think he could have probably doubled his money with them.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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