'A real headache': Portsmouth boss' honest admission about Liverpool starlet - and why we'll now see more of him

Having been granted just eight Pompey first-team minutes since arriving on loan from Liverpool on deadline day, Kaide Gordon was invariably straining at the proverbial leash for match action.

Following three consecutive outings as an unused substitute, Mousinho finally turned to the 20-year-old at half-time in Saturday’s trip to Luton, replacing Matt Ritchie.

Lining up on the right wing, Gordon subsequently produced a highly-encouraging display, irrespective of a 1-0 defeat and a dreadful spectacle as a football game as a whole.

The former loan man has been made to bide his time, but there was a reason why Mousinho had resisted unleashing the exciting winger until this point.

He told The News: ‘Kaide has been really unluckily, he’s been really sharp in training, but it has been about the state of the game at the time.

‘We can absolutely trust him when he comes on, but what we want him to do is have a look at what’s required of the wingers. You can’t all of a sudden just bring players in who have been playing PL2 with Liverpool and then playing with Norwich.

‘It’s a different press, different set of circumstances, yet they’re expected to pick it up straight away. We want to give him that exposure, give him that training, so, when we do slot him in, he knows what he’s doing.

‘Kaide understands, he has been at it in training and gives me a real headache in terms of selection. I think the experience for him will be good, he will play games and be a very, very good player. There’s no worries.

‘Yes everybody wants to play more, I want to play Kaide more, he’s got a fantastic role model to look at the moment in terms of Matt Ritchie and what he’s doing at the age of 35 - and these experiences as a young pro should help.’

Cameo at Sheffield United

Gordon made his Pompey debut at Sheffield United last month, featuring off the bench for the final eight minutes of a harsh 2-1 defeat.

However, he subsequently wasn’t called upon during successive victories over Cardiff, Oxford United and QPR.

Although Mousinho felt the time was right at Luton, albeit with Gordon unable to prevent the Blues slipping to a 1-0 loss.

He added: ‘We firstly saw a bit of Kaide was at Sheffield United. Then, off the back of that, we have defended late at 2-1 against Cardiff at home, when not particularly comfortable and maybe not the right game for him.

‘Oxford finished 2-0, but, at 1-0, we were dropping back in defensively. It’s when the game becomes tight, and was very similar against QPR.

‘Against QPR, we were actually thinking about making that substitution at 2-0, bringing Kaide on.’