Kenny Jackett: Alex Bass is Portsmouth's future - and not for sale

The 21-year-old has been in outstanding form since surprisingly dislodging first-choice Craig MacGillivray at the turn of the year.

Bass’ latest eye-catching display arrived on Saturday, helping keep down the scoreline as Peterborough claimed a convincing 2-0 success.

Pompey wisely moved to secure their asset in January, with a new three-and-a-half year deal.

Having long been highly-regarded within the club – it’s inevitable first-team performances will begin to capture the attention of others.

But Jackett has no intention of cashing in on the latest impressive Academy graduate.

Pompey's boss said: ‘Alex is a good young goalkeeper, as is Craig, we are pleased with that department, and, whichever keeper I pick, both can do the job.

‘Selling him is not something we have considered.

‘We are trying to bring through a few of our players and Alex is the latest one, I hadn’t really considered too much he might go somewhere else, but it happens to some of your players, it’s inevitable I suppose.

‘He has caught our eye – that’s the main thing. I hope he stays here and I hope he stays here for a long time and keeps improving.

‘He’s a young player and young players want to break through, they want to establish themselves and do well for the club and he is no different.

‘I don’t see anything else other than Alex being at Pompey and doing well. We’ll see if there is anything in the future, you don’t know.

‘Every player would want to go to the top, every player would want to do well, there is no difference in that.

‘Similarly, I don’t know what is going to happen. Alex’s form going forward, how he develops, how he is next year and, ultimately, whether people start bidding.’

Bass has started 16 of Pompey’s 18 matches during 2020 so far.

His only absences within that period have been Leasing.com Trophy fixtures against Walsall and Scunthorpe.

And Jackett believes Bass is reaping the rewards of impressive endeavour.

He added: ‘Alex works at being a goalkeeper.

'There’s every aspect of the technical side, the analysis side, he's in the gym and living his life right, he works hard at being a keeper and that’s good to see.

‘It’s no surprise over a period of time that players like Alex and Craig prove to be successful.

‘We are pleased with Alex, a lot of people have worked hard with him. It’s nice to see a player come out of the youth team, go into the first-team and then do well.’