John Mousinho delivers transfer statement over future of out-of-favour Portsmouth title-winner

The League One title-winning goalkeeper has been out of favour since October, with Nicolas Schmid preferred as number one.

His latest set-back arrived against Middlesbrough, when fit-again Jordan Archer reclaimed the back-up role on the bench ahead of the former Burnley man.

That selection re-emphasised Norris’ position as the Blues’ third-choice - marking a swift first-team fall, having started the Championship season as number one and racked up 54 consecutive league outings.

Certainly Pompey would not stand in the 31-year-old’s way if there was interest before the February 3 transfer deadline.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Will leaving is not something which is on my radar at the moment, so we’ll see how things progress.

‘If it looks like there's an opportunity or if it looks like there’s a place where Will can get minutes elsewhere - and that’s what he wants to do - then we’d have that discussion.

‘Jordan was on the bench on Saturday and we take everything into account when looking into these things. Whenever we’re picking squads, whenever we’re picking sides, there’s a multitude of things we look into.

‘At the minute, as number two, we think Jordan is the best pick there. When he came in and deputised for the Cardiff game, he was excellent. I thought he was also really good against Sheffield Wednesday.

‘Certainly, at the moment. we feel that number two spot is Jordan’s and we have a competitive department underneath that to try to shift that.’

Archer sustained a quad injury after starting against Wycombe in the FA Cup, forcing him off at half-time.

He subsequently missed the defeat at Blackburn, with Norris recalled to the squad for the first time since early October in the 6-1 loss against Stoke.

It proved to be a brief return, though, with Archer declared fit for the following match as Middlesbrough visited Fratton Park.

Although Mousinho insists he doesn’t regard Norris as Pompey’s number three.

He added: ‘We are not too keen on having labels on goalkeepers, you can see it has shifted this season already. So we could have talked about Will as number one, Nic as number one, whatever you want to do.

‘With goalkeepers, I understand it’s natural because it’s a bit more of a permanent fixture, but it changes depending on who is best suited to playing at that minute. It can change really quickly - as it has already done this season.

‘Not many positions have stayed with one person throughout the season. Probably left-back, Josh Murphy and Callum Lang are the ones who no-one has really challenged for good reasons, because they have been really solid performers. Everybody else has been interchangeable.

‘We have players competing in different positions, including the goalkeeping department.’