D-Day looms as Portsmouth boss addresses future of forgotten title-winning hero

While John Mousinho is ‘pretty happy’ with his pool of goalkeepers, the ongoing presence of their League One title winner is up for debate.

Norris hasn’t been included in a Pompey squad since the 6-1 defeat at Stoke at the start of October, ending a run of 54 consecutive league appearances.

The 31-year-old has subsequently been replaced by the impressive Nicolas Schmid, while another summer arrival, Jordan Archer, has provided goalkeeping cover from the bench.

Norris, who kept 19 clean sheets last season and was named in the PFA’s League One Team of the Year, still has 18 months remaining on the contract he signed in June 2023 following his departure from Burnley.

Now Pompey have a January transfer window decision to make.

Mousinho told The News: ‘We haven't actually had a huge amount of time to think about that (Norris’ future). We are pretty happy with the strength in the goalkeeping department.

‘I think it’s a conversation for us to have with Will now the window is open and see where we are and see where things are progressing.

‘What we don’t want to do is block an opportunity for players when we’ve got strength in depth in the goalkeeping department, but it’s not something we have overly thought about yet.

‘Will’s doing really well, he trains really well every day, he’s bright, energetic, enthusiastic and I think has reacted really well to what must have been really disappointing for him to find himself out of the team and out of the squad.

‘For the minute, we’re really happy with the way things are with the entire goalkeeping unit and then we’ll see what pops up this month and just take each situation on its merits.’

Norris started the opening nine matches of the season following promotion to the Championship.

Amid some impressive man-of-the-match displays, there were also some questionable moments, including during the hammering at Stoke.

Now Schmid, who signed for an undisclosed fee from BW Linz in August, has taken over the gloves and proven to be an excellent capture.

Mousinho insists the gruelling game schedule has taken much of his focus of late, with Norris’ future largely being assessed by sporting director Rich Hughes.

Pompey’s head coach added: ‘For me at the minute, the full concentration has been on games, the quick turnaround of matches.

‘Even after Swansea, we now have a really quick turnaround going to Sunderland on Sunday where we’ve got to make sure we prep, make sure we travel right. We have to do all the right things going into that.

‘We will now pick up on recruitment. We did a bit of recruitment Tuesday (before Swansea), so there’s plenty of opportunities, everybody is working hard in the background to make sure it happens.’