John Mousinho details Portsmouth contract stance on future of former Spurs starlet

And goalkeeping coach Joe Prodomo will play a leading role in whether the highly-regarded 22-year-old remains.

The Blues hold a club option on the 12-month contract the former Spurs player signed in July 2022.

Since his arrival following a successful trial, Oluwayemi has made eight first-team appearances, including his Football League debut.

And Mousinho admits he’s looking favourably on extending the keeper’s Fratton Park stay.

He told The News: ‘Josh is a young lad who has come in and done well and, in terms of keeping him for next year, his contract is a conversation which we’ll be really positive about having.

‘Josh is a fantastic lad. The first day I was here, Matt Macey wasn’t in the building, but we knew he was signing later in the day and would play the following day.

‘The first conversation with any player in the building was Josh and it was “Can you come and do the shape with us, but you’re not going to play tomorrow”.

‘It was a tough one for Josh to take. It came off the back of playing against Bolton, when he was disappointed for the second goal, but I thought played really well under difficult circumstances.

‘He took it on the chin, got his head down, and, when we needed him for the two games when Matt was ill, he played.

‘He came in against Plymouth, which was a tough match, not necessarily for him but for the side, and then, on the Tuesday evening, we played Burton and he made one fantastic save in the first half from a long throw and another at the start of the second half.

‘I didn’t keep us in the game, I’m sure we’d have been able to come back into it, but kept it at 0-0 and we managed to get the win.

‘I suppose it kick-started a nice little run for us and a lot of credit should go to the way Josh handled himself through that period. He has been an excellent number two and provided some good competition.

‘He’s really young and has some good physical attributes in terms of his power and ability to get to crosses, and also makes saves. He has a lot of potential

‘I defer to our goalkeeping coach and Joe really likes him – and if Joe really likes then that’s enough for me.’

The 18-year-old Toby Steward is Pompey’s only contracted goalkeeper next season.

Although highly regarded, he is without a Blues first-team appearance, and been on loan at Bognor and Salisbury this season.

Mousinho added: ‘Matt still has time left on his contract at Luton, so we’ll have to see how that one pans out.

‘Whatever that goalkeeping unit looks like next season, we are working on it pretty hard and I’ve got massive input into it.

‘However, that area of goalkeeping is such a specialist position that I do leave most of it to the recruitment staff alongside Joe – and Joe takes the lead.’