Portsmouth boss dismisses emotional Fratton Park return for Republic of Ireland international as 'short-term cover'

And the Blues’ head coach doesn’t believe the Republic of Ireland international would be available for selection until January.

Mousinho has been keen to keep the winger at Fratton Park, prompting the offer of a new deal this summer.

Despite Curtis’ subsequent rejection of reduced terms, he has continued his rehabilitation with Pompey following the ACL damage he sustained to his left knee in February,

Meanwhile, fellow left winger Anthony Scully has been told he requires a knee operation, ruling him out for ‘2-3 months’.

That has prompted a section of the Fratton faithful calling for Curtis’ return – yet Mousinho insists the injury timeframe doesn’t fit.

He told The News: ‘Obviously Ronan was one we offered a contract to in the summer hoping that, by the time he got back fit, he would be able to come in and affect the squad.

‘At the moment he is still a way away, which is totally normal in terms of the ACL rehab.

‘He went under the knife in March, so he’s about six months post-surgery at the moment – and it’s at least nine months with the severity of Ronan’s one.

‘Ronan is obviously coming in and rehabbing with us every day – and it’s good he’s keeping the fans informed on social media in terms of what he is doing.

‘But he is still a way away, so, in terms of short-term cover at the moment, that is not something we are able to look at.

‘Obviously Ronan turned the contract down, so if and when we have that conversation, it’s something we will have to see if Ronan has any interest in and then go from there.

‘I haven’t had the full debrief from the medical team yet, but ACL injuries are severe and, having done it myself, even though you can be back out and training, you are still probably 4-6 weeks away from actually being available for selection.

‘The last thing you want to do is go back and retear the ACL, the graft has to take time to settle in.

‘In terms of modern guidance, it’s at least nine months post-surgeon for the graft to settle. That would put Ronan about December time in terms of where he is.

‘When we initially offered him the contact, we always had Christmas/January in mind for possibly having him back in – and I don’t think anything has changed since.’

Despite Scully missing the last six matches, the Blues have managed to fill his left-sided role in their charge to the top of League One.

And Mousinho is happy with his current options in the ex-West Ham man’s ongoing absence.

He added: ‘Paddy predominantly plays on the right, he came on the left against Stevenage.

‘We have seen Gav on the right, central and left, he has the flexibility to do so. I thought he was pretty lively against Barnsley coming off the left in our best 45 minutes of the season.

‘Abu showed tremendous flexibility as well playing on the right and the left. Certainly over the last couple of weeks he has made that position on the left his own, he was really effective again last weekend.

‘As another option we have Jack Sparkes, who can come into the side and play a bit higher up on the left.

‘We have plenty of options and will be turning to those over the next couple of weeks – and maybe couple of months – to make sure we cover Anthony.’