John Mousinho's triallist admission as Portsmouth evaluate squad numbers for pre-season start

And the man who owes his football career to being handed such an opportunity at Brentford has set a maximum of three being allowed at any time with the Blues.

According to Pompey’s head coach, breakneck early season recruitment of six inside the opening eight days has reduced the necessity to take in triallists.

Certainly it’s an approach in contrast to predecessors such as Paul Cook and Danny Cowley, albeit wildly differing circumstances to the present.

Yet while Mousinho is not against inviting players in to try to win a Pompey deal, he presently has no plans to do so.

He told The News: ‘At the moment, numbers-wise, we are actually fine, particularly with the six we have brought in already.

‘If there are any triallists who we think are really good then absolutely we will look to do it, I don’t think there’s any harm getting them to come in.

‘Although, as it stands, we haven’t got any triallists coming in on the first day of pre-season. We don’t have any plans, but things, of course, can change very quickly.

‘For pre-season, it’s important that the majority of the squad are players we already have in the building, with probably 2-3 triallists at a maximum.

‘Maybe if we hadn't made those six signings then it’s something we might have actually looked into, particularly with the game out in Spain (July 6).

‘We need to fill two separate teams to keep it down to 45 minutes per player for that game against Europa FC.

‘At the minute we are actually okay, so we’ll see how it goes over the next couple of weeks in terms of signings and injuries.’

Mousinho was handed his first professional team following a successful trial at Brentford under Martin Allen in the summer of 2005.

Certainly he is well-placed to recognise the usefulness of the system, going on to total almost 500 appearances in the Football League over eight clubs.

And he hung up his boots at the age of 36 in January after being appointed as Pompey head coach.

Mousinho added: ‘I’m certainly not against them. Triallists not only help make numbers up but I’ve seen them come in and make such an impact that they earn contracts.

‘I was a triallist at Brentford and managed to earn a deal off the back of it, signing my first contract in pre-season. So I should probably take some on, shouldn’t it!

‘It depends on the circumstances. Sometimes triallists come in a week into pre-season and haven’t had a huge amount of football behind them, so it becomes difficult to catch up and get involved.’