'No panic, no rush': Why Portsmouth boss isn't concerned over lack of impact from forgotten pair

And he believes patience is required to enable the promising youngsters to develop and fulfil their potential.

Harvey Blair and Abdoulaye Kamara were recruited from Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund respectively in the summer transfer window to bolster the Blues squad for their Championship return.

However, they have made just two starts between them in all competitions - while neither have featured in the first-team since December 13.

Indeed, the January arrivals of Isaac Hayden and Kaide Gordon have nudged them even further down the pecking order for match-day involvement - but Mousinho insists there’s ‘no rush’.

Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘They’ve got to keep working hard and keep pushing.

‘As games settle down, we have full training weeks. Those training weeks are really important for players that aren’t necessarily involved week in, week out, because they haven’t had the opportunities.

‘So don’t panic, no problem, these are young players, young players coming into senior football for the first time in both their cases. No rush, no panic, we’ll keep developing. If they are ready, they are ready. If not, we’re not going to push players too soon.

‘We do think there’s an impact there, there’s an impact that both could possibly make this season. We are not saying come back next pre-season, see how you go - we definitely think they can impact games this year.

‘It’s about showing us they can do that, showing us week in, week out, day in, day out that they can do that. Making sure the difficult decision for me is having to leave them out.

‘Kamara isn’t happy in terms of not being involved, but he's training well at the moment, he’s keeping himself ticking over, so absolutely no issues with him.

‘He’s been great around the place and needs to keep pushing off.’

Blair has made eight appearances to date, although his most recent was as a substitute at Swansea in November.

He subsequently had a spell sidelined by injury, while overall has been named in five of Pompey’s last 18 squads as a substitute, yet unused off the bench.

Kamara made his full Pompey debut in the 2-0 FA defeat to Wycombe last month, yet hasn’t been included in a match-day squad since.

He has totalled six appearances, with his last league involvement arriving at Derby in December, when he came off the bench in the 4-0 defeat.

Mousinho added: ‘Harvey has been in and out and Kaide coming in has made things a bit more competitive in that department.

‘We’ve obviously got Adil as well. When he has come on, we’ve put Langy out wide, so there has been good competition out wide.

‘Then we have Cohen, even though he’s a left-back can play there. So it’s just a case of players being patient and not losing faith.’