Portsmouth boss’ message over Abdoulaye Kamara and other fringe players exiting in window

But the Blues boss admitted moving on peripheral men and landing better alternatives, could yet become a live option before 11pm on February 3.

That’s with the likes of Abdoulaye Kamara, Owen Moxon, Tom McIntyre and Harvey Blair finding playing time hard to come by.

Mousinho explained those who aren’t getting minutes at present may be closer to the first-team picture in the Championship than they anticipated. And the Blues boss will also needs to take a safety-first approach to negotiating the rest of the season and the physical demands being placed on his players.

With season-ending injuries to Jacob Farrell and Paddy Lane meaning they can be deregistered, Pompey are now well placed to complete the rest of their January business against their 25-man EFL squad obligations.

The likes of Owen Moxon and Tom McIntyre would likely have been considered as options to depart on loan before that dynamic changed, as two players finding playing time hard to come by. Meanwhile, the same can be said for Kamara, Blair and, to a lesser extent, Terry Devlin, though none occupy a squad space as contracted under-21 players.

Mousinho is clear on his thinking those players have to stay around to help Pompey negotiate what’s to come this season.

When asked if fringe players will be allowed leave, Mousinho said: ‘Quite possibly, but it’s not a consideration at the moment.

‘Once we’re done with the players we want to bring in, if there are players we think could move on and it’d be better for them to get minutes elsewhere, that’d be fine.

‘If we brought players to replace them it’d be players we think can affect the starting XI or those in the category of being for the future.

‘We’re just operating with a squad at the moment where everyone is contributing. even if players haven’t played a huge amount of minutes. They may feel frustrated, but they are close a lot of the time.

‘It’s one thing we only know as coaching staff, so if there’s a conversation about going out we may say there’s actually a conversation about that player starting or coming on.

‘So it’s not something we’re discussing at the moment and, if we did, we’re certainly not bringing in players for the sake it.’