Kenny Jackett: Why Portsmouth released Croatia keeper Petar Durin

The promising keeper today left Fratton Park by mutual consent – 19 months after arriving from Italian side Atalanta.

The Blues possessed high hopes for the Croatia under-18 international upon his Fratton Park arrival.

Durin was also twice loaned to the Rocks, most recently in August, only to be returned early following six first-team outings.

However, with his contract not due to be renewed this summer, it was decided to let the 18-year-old leave early.

Jackett told The News: ‘Petar is moving on, we thank him for all he’s done and wish him all the best.

‘His contract is up in the summer, it wasn’t going to be renewed so we told him early.

‘He will use the rest of the season, which isn’t a long period of time, to explore other avenues.

‘We let him know reasonably early we wouldn’t be renewing his contract.

‘For him, he needed to break into that top two of MacGillivray and Bass – and he wasn’t getting over either of them this year.

‘He needed to get in somewhere, or even here, at least as a number two, the number one would be difficult for him.

‘With his contract up in the summer, we have told him early.

‘He’s had loan spells since he has been here, but this is to give him the best chance of earning a new contract somewhere.’

Durin initially spent a two-game spell with the Rocks in March, covering for the injured Dan Lincoln.

That prompted his loan return earlier this season, replacing former Hawks keeper Charlie Searle as first choice.

Of his six appearances, just one yielded victory, as Pearce’s men at the time slumped to third from bottom of the Isthmian Premier Division.

His Nyewood Lane spell was cut short at the end of September, with Pompey keen to find another loan home for Durin.

However, that never emerged, while triallist Taylor Seymour has recently started ahead of him in reserve and under-21 fixtures.

In addition, Durin appeared once this season for the Academy side.