John Mousinho's 'treatment' promise to unwanted Portsmouth pair with no Fratton future
John Mousinho has pledged not to exile Ben Stevenson and Tom Lowery - and will continue involving them in first-team training.
However, the Blues ‘won’t stand in their way’ should they wish to depart Fratton Park in January.
The title-winning pair haven’t been registered in Pompey’s 25-man Football League squad and, being out of contract next summer, are unlikely to play again for the club.
Attempts to move them on late in the summer transfer window failed and the players remain with the Blues, yet unable to feature competitively.
Regardless, Mousinho has ruled out making the duo train on their own or with the Academy, unlike managerial predecessors.
He told The News: ‘We tried to sort a couple of bits out for both of them, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to do it. Nothing came properly close and we just want to try to keep them ticking over for the next months.
‘Lots can change in January, we won’t close the door to anything in terms of their Pompey careers, but if it comes to a point where they want to leave in January and they found something, we won’t stand in their way.
‘They will be treated the same as everyone else, they will train with the group. Sometimes when we have overinflated numbers because we didn’t necessarily anticipate having them in, there might be some bits we move around with training here and there.
‘But they will always be with the first-team group as long as they have that professionalism and train hard - and they have.’
It’s a tough situation for the midfield pair, who featured in the Blues’ League One title-winning campaign.
Neither was a regular for different reasons, nonetheless contributed to a memorable season, and Mousinho has praised their ongoing attitudes.
He added: ‘Both have been a credit to themselves since the squad list came out.
‘They have trained really well, they’ve made sure they’ve got on with the job and not sulked. They have integrated themselves really well into the squad.’