Ex-Sunderland man Denver Hume handed huge accolade amid battle for Portsmouth starting place with former Charlton and Southend talent

The left-back was one of five winter recruits last month, as Pompey’s boss constructed the second phase of his squad rebuild.

And the Blues head coach described the 23-year-old as the ‘best left-back’ in League One last season, despite dropping him to the bench against Doncaster.

After starting the three matches that followed his signing, Reeco Hackett replaced the ex-Black Cat in the starting XI against Gary McSheffrey’s side.

The former Charlton then man gave his manager food for thought, by capping an excellent display with the Fratton side’s opener in the 4-0 rout.

But despite having a decision to make against Crewe this weekend, Cowley explained how Hume’s arrival perfectly encapsulates club’s recruitment strategy.

He told The News: ‘For us we have a clear recruitment strategy and we know exactly what we want to do. We want to bring young and progressive players into the football club.

‘Look at Denver Hume, I think he is a brilliant signing for us.

‘He’s just 23 and has loads of room for growth and improvement, but he’s already played nearly 100 games at this level for Sunderland and has excelled at the level.

‘I thought, last year, he was the best left-back in the division. So we’re pleased to have him with us.’

Last summer, the Fratton chief overhauled Pompey’s squad, with 14 new faces arriving on the south coast.

Bromley’s Liam Vincent arrived as he first signing of the Cowley era back then.

And the Fratton chief also revealed Hume was also on his list of potential recruits across the summer, but was deterred due potentially having to pay compensation thanks to the left-back’s contract stand-off with his former club.

He continued: ‘We’d have loved to have done it (sign him) in the summer, but it wasn’t possible during that period.

‘He was out of contract but he had huge compensation on his head because he’d been at Sunderland since he was eight-years-old.

‘It wasn’t quite possible then and we’ve had to be patient. For one reason or another he found game time more difficult at Sunderland and that created the availability.

‘For us, (he’s) a young player who has growth and potential not just to do well here and now at this level, but also to play beyond this level. These are the types of signings we want to make at the football club.’

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