Portsmouth boss explains ex-Sunderland man's absence - and why Fratton faithful may have seen last of him in action

John Mousinho admits the out-of-favour ex-Sunderland man is unlikely to feature in the Blues’ remaining pre-season schedule.

Pompey are eager to offload the left-back this summer, who similarly is desperate to find himself a new club.

Nonetheless, he attended their Spanish training camp earlier this month and subsequently featured in three friendlies.

However, Hume was left out of the 22-man squad on duty for Saturday’s 9-1 behind-closed-doors annihilation of Crawley.

He instead joined Haji Mnoga and Liam Vincent in a morning training session, with Joe Rafferty also present as part of ongoing rehabilitation following injury.

And with AFC Wimbledon (tonight) and Bristol City (July 29) remaining on their pre-season fixture list, the defender is expected to again be overlooked.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Denver trained on Saturday morning with us, but, with Connor (Ogilvie) and Jack (Sparkes) being fit at left-back, there was no opportunity for him to get into that Crawley side.

‘He’s absolutely fine and the plan with Denver remains – we’re looking to be patient and essentially he has to find something which suits him.

‘I’m not entirely sure whether he will play the final two friendlies, it’s more difficult with the competition we now have and the fact Connor and Jack are fit.

‘Denver has also played on the left wing in previous friendlies, but we also have left wingers now.

‘I am not sure whether he’ll play, we’ll have to see how that goes. Denver has been around, he trained really well last week and has kept himself going.

‘Most importantly for him, he must be ready should he be called upon for us and, if he does go somewhere, has that pre-season behind him.’

Hume, who is now in the final 12 months of his Pompey contract, has caught the eye in his pre-season outings.

He featured against Europa FC, the Rocks and Gosport, although didn’t come off the bench at the Hawks with a groin strain.

Mousinho added: ‘Denver has been sharp, good in training and we all know was unlucky last year to not play a huge amount of games.

‘He wants to go and play matches, which is absolutely fine, so we’ll try to find and facilitate that move for him.’