Blues chief addresses Portsmouth goalkeeping transfer situation - and delivers Gosport boost

Rich Hughes has ruled out strengthening Pompey’s goalkeeping department ‘for the moment’.

While Toby Steward’s impressive Gosport loan has been extended to the end of the month, with the Blues open to him remaining there for the season.

Will Norris is the Pompey's undisputed number one, having impressed since arriving on a free transfer from Burnley in the summer.

However, there remain concerns over his deputy Ryan Schofield, whose most recent performance against AFC Wimbledon in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy rightly drew criticism.

The former Huddersfield and England youth keeper has overall struggled to shine during his six appearances for the Blues this season, all arriving in cup competitions.

Meanwhile, Josh Oluwayemi remains on Pompey's books as he negotiates cancelling his contract in order to finalise a move to Finnish side FC Lahti.

And Pompey’s sporting director is 'pretty happy' with the Fratton Park goalkeeping set-up at present.

Hughes told The News: ‘We’ve got Will and Ryan, while we are pleased with Toby, who has extended his loan at Gosport - and we will extend that again.

‘Will has been great and one of - if not the - best performers in the league this season, in my opinion.

‘Ryan is coming off the back of a period where he’s not played a lot of football and is finding his feet. I’m sure he knows what he wants to do better in certain situations, but he has such an energy around the training ground.

‘We are not looking for another number two at the moment, we're pleased with where we are.

‘We may look at something if something pops up, but we are pretty happy with where we are at the moment.’

Oluwayemi's 18 months at Fratton Park are almost over, following nine first-team appearances, all arriving last season.

As for Steward, he has been earning rave reviews for performances in Gosport's Southern League Premier South campaign, with the club currently in fourth.

Hughes added: ‘Toby has been extended until the end of this month, then we will look at renewing it, but, ultimately, I think there’s a mentality of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

‘It’s working well. He trains with us 3-4 times a week, while also performing really well in a Gosport team that’s chasing promotion, so we’re not going to look to mess around with that situation necessarily.

‘He’s developing really well. The conversation will turn towards staying until the end of the season and they are really happy with him and we are really happy with his development.’