'Players need protecting from themselves at times': Portsmouth boss agonises over handing ex-Norwich man first start in five months for trip to Peterborough

With Joe Morrell serving a one-match ban for Saturday’s trip to Peterborough, the Blues head coach is eyeing alternatives in his favoured 4-3-3 system.

Marlon Pack and Ryan Tunnicliffe are expected to retain their places, with Thompson an obvious contender for the third spot in his midfield.

The former Norwich man has come off the bench in each of the last five matches since breaking his leg against Bristol Rovers in August.

And Mousinho must decide whether the popular 28-year-old is now ready to return to the starting XI – starting with Peterborough.

He told The News: ‘As I look at the squad, there are plenty of options to go in there.

‘It looks like Louis might be ready, but we will really have to assess that with the medical team and see if it’s something we want to progress with.

‘We want to make sure players are right and ready to play and not force them back in when actually it’s more of a risk than anything else.

‘If he is fit and he’s available to start, that’s great. If not, we will look at other options.

‘I’ll see how Louis reacts after Thursday’s training because he had a good, long session and his running stats were really high.

‘That’s the thing when you come back from the big injuries. What tends to be the case is that the big injury isn’t actually the problem, it’s everything else around that.

‘Take a broken leg or ACL, for example, you do so much rehab around that area that the body starts to compensate elsewhere – and that’s where you start to pick up soft tissue injuries.

‘Players will never tell you, they would say they’re fit regardless, I always did. That’s just the way it is.

‘We have to make sure we protect the players because they need protecting from themselves at times.’

Should Thompson start, it could potentially pitch him against older brother and ex-Pompey defender Nathan.

The last occasion they faced each other was in November 2019, when he was part of the Shrewsbury side which faced Posh in League One.

Mousinho added: ‘Louis has been brilliant when he has come on for us, he has shown something different and closed the games out really well.

‘I absolutely know all about him and what he offers in the middle of the park in terms of his tenacity, the way he leads, and how he gets up and down the pitch.

‘If we can get him back, then he’s a massively positive addition around the team and the squad.’