'A terrific player' - the glowing reference Portsmouth will have noted before free transfer move for former Ipswich and Sheffield United midfielder

Pompey new-boy Lee Evans arrives at Fratton Park with a glowing reference from Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna.

The midfielder - who has joined the Blues on a free transfer until the end of the season - left Portman Road at the beginning of February, following the mutual termination of his contract. The decision to end his two-and-a-half-year Tractor Boys stay was made as the Wales international midfielder neared the end of his rehabilitation following knee surgery. The Championship high-flyers also needed to reduce the size of their 25-man senior squad following their January transfer window deadline day move for striker Kieffer Moore.

But after 61 appearances for Ipswich and a key role in the Suffolk side’s return to the second tier last season, the decision to part ways didn’t come easily. Indeed, McKenna was clearly a fan of what the former Wolves, Sheffield United and Wigan midfielder had to offer, only for his time at Ipswich to be hampered by injury.

Speaking about Evans at the beginning of February following confirmation of his Portman Road exit, McKenna spoke highly of Evans. He said: ‘Lee has made some big contributions during my time at the club and is someone so highly respected by the staff and his team-mates. 

‘He’s a terrific player and a terrific professional and, after being very unfortunate and suffering from a lot of injuries, we hope those issues are resolved following surgery and he can get back playing games again. 

‘Lee has come to an agreement where he will do what is hopefully his last month of rehab work here until he’s back in full training and then have the opportunity to go and sign somewhere as a free agent.

‘Hopefully he will get quite a few games before the end of the season, with whoever takes him getting a very good football player, hopefully now free of injury, and a fantastic character who is so well-respected here.’

Evans’ final months as an Ipswich player saw him confined to the treatment room after he underwent surgery in October for an ongoing knee problem that stretched back to February 2022. He arrives at Pompey fully recovered from his latest set-back but without a competitive match since the end of September.

It will now be up to the Blues to get the most out of the serial promotion-winner between now and the end of the season. But there’s little doubt what Evans can do when he’s injury free.

McKenna told the East Anglian Daily Times last month:  ‘If you look at Lee's form in the period after I first arrived and the progression of the other players who are still here, Samy Morsy, Conor Chaplin, Wes Burns, I think there's every chance that Lee, injury free, would have made those same type of jumps. He's been very unfortunate.’