Disappointed - but Portsmouth chief Mark Catlin understands Bristol City desire to recall Cam Pring

The 22-year-old was recalled by Bristol City on Sunday, cutting short a scheduled season-long stay at Fratton Park.

The Championship side acted after first-choice left-back Jay Dasilva was last month sidelined by a stress fracture of the shin.

Requiring an operation, he is expected to be out for several months, leaving City short on replacement options.

As a consequence, they activated a January recall clause in Pring’s Pompey arrangement.

It ends the full-back’s Blues stay following 15 appearances, including starting the last two League One fixtures.

Pompey chief executive Catlin told The News: ‘Cam has gone back and it’s unfortunate.

‘It was purely from the Bristol City side, we would have loved to have kept Cam until the end of the season.

‘As a fan watching the games develop, Cam looked to be getting better and better with every match.

‘We are sad to see him go, but that’s the nature of loans.

‘We have a fantastic reputation for developing players, both our own and players that come on loan, which gives us a great advantage now going back into the loan market to fill the gaps.

‘My understanding is they (Bristol City) have had a few injuries and every club has to look after its own interests.

‘That's why it’s key for all clubs, even when we loan out, that we have break clauses in January. You have to look at your squad at that moment.

‘My understanding is he loved it here. He’s very popular and goes back to Bristol City with our best wishes.’

Pring’s sudden exit leaves Lee Brown as the sole senior left-back in Pompey’s squad.

The 30-year-old himself only recently returned to training following a hamstring injury at Ipswich.

Catlin added: ‘The decision to recall Cam happened pretty quickly, a few weeks ago we were quietly confident that we could keep him.

‘Obviously it is at the discretion of the loaning club. I believe they have a couple of injuries in their squad and looked to recall him.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

The News has launched a new subscription offer which gives you unlimited access to all of our Pompey coverage, starting at less than £1 a week.

You can subscribe here to get the latest news and transfer updates from Fratton Park - and to support our local team of expert Pompey writers.