Portsmouth boss hails his ex-Liverpool and Preston 'class act' whose re-emergence has lit up Blues

Following an absence of five months and two groin operations, Joe Rafferty marked his long-awaited comeback against Burton this week.

He completed the full 90 minutes in the 1-0 triumph – and retained his place for Saturday’s trip to Lincoln.

This time it was a man-of-the-match display from the former Liverpool apprentice, with an outstanding showing in the goalless draw.

Certainly the Fratton faithful are being reminded of what they missed during his 29-game absence – and Pompey’s head coach is also purring over Rafferty’s return.

Mousinho told The News: ‘I think Joe has been excellent since coming back from being out since the first week of September.

‘He has put in two really good shifts against physical sides and has looked great, growing into the games. He has now come back into the fold and played two games in a week.

‘Joe’s an extremely experienced player, he knows how to play right-back and is very composed on the ball, while you don’t actually see him getting done defensively.

‘He’s extremely solid, a class act on the ball, and he gets forward as well. Just to have that in your side is really, really positive.

‘Joe’s had an excellent career and played in the Championship, he knows what he is doing on the football pitch, his positioning is brilliant.

‘On Saturday he was up against Mide Shodipo, who is a Championship winger and has played in the Championship this season for QPR.

‘I can’t really remember any times in the game where I thought Joe was exposed or in trouble, he managed the game brilliantly well and provides a threat down the right as well.’

With Zak Swanson ruled out with a groin issue, it’s a timely return for the 29-year-old former Preston full-back.

With Di’Shon Bernard also missing the Burton match through injury, Rafferty was thrown back into the Mousinho’s team out of necessity.

The response – and high performance levels – have not surprised the Blues’ head coach.

He added: ‘I am not surprised because I know how hard Joe has worked in terms of his rehab and how he has trained over the past few weeks.

‘We were looking at him the other night (Burton) at around 70 minutes wondering whether to make a change to freshen it up, but it looked like he had enough in the tank – and he did.

‘Again he looked energetic on Saturday when sometimes it’s that second game where you come back and are not quite at it, you don’t quite get the spring you need for a player.

‘Joe had that in abundance against Lincoln and I thought it was another really good performance.’