Portsmouth boss' challenge to 'excellent' forgotten man after 11 league starts in 15 months for Sunderland recruit

Now he has issued the ex-Sunderland left-back with a first-team challenge after impressing on a rare outing.

Hume had previously featured for just 12 minutes of Mousinho’s Blues reign, with Ogilvie preferred for 17 successive matches.

However, with the former Gillingham man collecting a dead leg against MK Dons, Hume was called in from the cold.

And with five games remaining this term, the man who cost £200,000 in January 2022 has been urged to produce more of the same.

Mousinho told The News: ‘I was really pleased with Denver’s performance.

‘If you consider all the circumstances around it, he hasn’t played too many minutes at all, he wasn’t in the squad on Friday, then came in and I thought performed excellently.

‘I certainly cannot fault Denver against Morecambe, especially not having had the game time I know he would have liked and probably deserved.

‘He was excellent down that left side. They didn’t really have too much of an attacking threat and he got into some really good positions higher up, it’s one of the things that Denver is excellent at,

‘He had a shot blocked in the first half and a couple of mazy runs when he got away from players with a bit of pace and power, while there was that late cross for Reeco.

‘Denver has a really nice left foot, you saw that on Monday, and hopefully he keeps on improving, keeps performing.

‘To keep playing in the side it’s the same as it has been previously, nothing’s changed. I expect him to come and perform well because I know he’s trained really well.

‘He needs to keep challenging for that shirt with if and when Connor’s back, making sure he keeps his head down and performs when he possibly can.’

Morecambe represented only the third league game Ogilvie has missed this season.

And he is expected to be back for Saturday’s trip to Shrewsbury, along with fellow Bank Holiday Monday absentee Michael Jacobs (calf).

Mousinho added: ‘Connor had a dead leg after being clattered right at the end of the MK Dons game.

‘It’s short-term, hopefully, just a case of that working itself out and becoming a bit more loose towards the back end of this week.

‘Michael Jacobs’ calf seized up. We are going to assess it with a scan, make sure his calf is okay and go from there, but it doesn’t seem too serious.

‘It wasn’t an incident in the game, but something which tightened up after.’