Ex-Sheffield United, Derby and Nottingham Forest man handed Football League lifeline following summer Portsmouth exit

The 31-year-old was released at the end of last season following a hugely disappointing two-year spell with the Blues.

It turned out the former Sheffield United man had largely been commuting to the south coast from his home in the Nottingham area on a daily basis.

Regardless, Freeman totalled 33 appearances during a forgettable Pompey spell, albeit also impacted by wretched bad luck and injuries.

Now the right-back is trialling at Mansfield, a club he has previously represented in two different spells, both on loans.

And, perhaps crucially, it is considerably nearer his family home as the former Premier League player seeks to reinvigorate a career which had stalled even before his Blues arrival.

Freeman has been part of pre-season training with Nigel Clough’s side, while featured for them in Tuesday night’s 8-0 win at Retford United.

He lined up in the first half against the Northern Counties East League Division One side, with Mansfield introducing an entirely new 11 from the bench at half-time.

Ironically, Freeman was replaced at right-back by former Pompey team-mate Callum Johnson, who would net the Stags’ fourth in their comprehensive victory.

Johnson made 13 appearances for the League Two club in the second half of last season after joining from Ross County in January for an undisclosed fee.

Still, Freeman is one of three triallists presently at Mansfield, joining Aaron Lewis and Brennan Dickenson at the start of their pre-season.

It’s not the first time Clough has shown interest in the ex-Derby man, having previously been linked with the defender during his time at Fratton Park.

However, despite Pompey desperate to offload Freeman last season, the much-mooted move to the Stags never materialised, no doubt to the player’s disappointment.

As a Forest player, he made nine appearances for Mansfield during a loan spell from November 2011, then returned in October 2014 to feature 11 times, on that occasion on loan from Derby.

Freeman’s last Pompey outing was in their 1-0 Papa Johns Trophy defeat at Bolton in January, shortly before Mousinho’s arrival as head coach.

Subsequently, the defender never played under Mousinho and it was no surprise when he was among those released by the Blues at the season’s end.