Joe Rafferty: Portsmouth boss John Mousinho reveals what's next for former Preston man after first outing in five months

The right-back could well be part of the Blues squad that travels to Plymouth in League One on Saturday.

Head coach John Mousinho will consult the 29-year-old and the club’s medical staff about that possibility.

But if the trip to Home Park is considered too soon, then next week’s games against Burton (Tuesday) and Lincoln (Saturday, February 18) will be earmarked.

The news comes off the back of Rafferty’s 60-minute runout in a behind-closed-doors win against AFC Wimbledon.

The midweek match at Pompey’s Roko training base was aimed at giving the former Preston man and first-team fringe players a chance to get some game time under their belt.

Rafferty has been out since September 3 with a groin injury that required two operations.

Five months without any match action came to an end in the 3-1 win against the Dons.

And now with a first-team comeback on the Scouser’s radar, Mousinho said the timing of the defender’s senior comeback has to be right for both him and the club.

‘Joe came through the AFC Wimbledon game great. He played 60 minutes, which was the plan,’ said the head coach.

‘We looked at 60 minutes and thought he could be capable of playing more but we decided to stick to the plan – which was to just get him through those minutes and make sure we protected him, not rushing him back too quickly.

‘That’s the most important thing for us – that we don’t rush him back.

‘We have to make sure he’s right, we have to make sure he’s fit and that he’s comfortable coming back into the side if and when needed.

‘League One football, as we all know, is very, very tough and you’ve got to make sure you are fit off the back of that.

‘He’ll possibly be fit this weekend.

‘It’s maybe a weekend too quick so we will look at the games next week and try to see what we can do in terms of fitting him in.

‘But we’ll be largely led by Joe and then the medical department who will probably have to rein Joe back a bit because he’s really keen to get going.’