'Honest talks': Why pair may have already played their last Portsmouth game

The loan duo haven't been included in any of the Blues’ last three match-day squads, a period during which a seven-point haul has secured Championship safety.

The injury returns of Callum Lang and Conor Shaughnessy ahead of schedule have bolstered John Mousinho’s selection options to 25 fit players in recent weeks.

Pompey head to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, with their head coach weighing up whether to rotate his team for the remaining two matches of the campaign with their Championship presence now secured.

Gordon has totalled just 121 minutes since arriving on loan from Liverpool during the January transfer window, while Brighton’s O’Mahony has played four times since the end of November.

And both could continue to be overlooked ahead of their impending Fratton Park departures at the season’s end.

Mousinho told The News: ‘I am not sure about team selection yet. There are going to be a lot of conversations around what we do on Saturday, but we still want to win the games, so that's an important factor.

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‘We will take a view on all of those things, try to put a strong squad, look at opportunities which we might need to give players and go from there.

‘We left a couple out on Monday with Shocks and Langy back, they were tough decisions to make, we’ve had all of a sudden in the past few weeks 25 fit players to choose from at times.

‘It has left some players who have been really good this year for us unfortunately out of the squad, but the most important thing is for us to pick up results.

‘Kaide and Mark (O’Mahony) have taken it really well. I have tried to be honest with them about what I think they can do better with performances and why they have found themselves out of the squad.

‘Some of it is about a bit of luck as well, with it also being crunch time at this time of the season. We’re just going to have to make decisions which we think are going to help the team.’

Three goals in 13 appearances

O’Mahony, who has three goals in 13 appearances, hasn’t featured in a squad since coming off the bench for 36 minutes in the stoppage-time defeat at Coventry earlier this month.

A side strain sustained at Swansea in November had previously ruled the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international out for almost two-and-a-half months.

However, he marked his return to first-team action in February with Pompey’s second goal in their crucial 2-0 victory at Oxford United.

Liverpool’s Gordon had been recalled from a disappointing Norwich loan spell in January, yet he has been involved even less after subsequently moving to Fratton Park.

Since making his debut as a late substitute at Sheffield United in February, he has totalled just four first-team outings, with Josh Murphy and Matt Ritchie the regular wing selections.

The 20-year-old’s last first-team appearance was in the second half of last month’s 2-1 defeat at Preston, when he replaced Adil Aouchiche in the 59th minute at Deepdale.

Mousinho added: ‘You live and die by those decisions. I’ve made plenty of bad ones this year, don’t worry about that!

‘There are plenty of times when I have made poor decisions and it’s just about trying to make as few poor decisions as possible.’

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