Portsmouth boss' message to ex-Derby, Sunderland and Stoke target after low-key start to Fratton Park life

But John Mousinho has promised there’ll be plenty of first-team opportunities for Terry Devlin as the teenager prepares for his competitive debut at Fratton Park.

The Northern Ireland youth international will tonight line up against Fulham Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.

It represents a second outing for Devlin, having previously started against Forest Green in the Carabao Cup.

Indeed, the 19-year-old has still to feature in League One, while has been omitted from the Blues’ last two squads.

Nonetheless, it’s all part of the development plan for the talented midfielder who had also been pursued by Derby, Sunderland, Stoke and Brentford this summer.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Terry’s had a really good start to his Pompey career.

‘He may not 100 per cent feel that because he’s only been involved in one of the games, but he has been in a couple of the squads, which should tell everybody he is really close to our thinking.

‘At 19, Terry will tonight be competing against 18-19 year-olds at a Premier League Academy – and we’ll get a good barometer of where he’s at in terms of his development and what he contributes to the first-team here.

‘He has really good attacking attributes, he can run, is decent enough on the ball, and gets himself forward, causing real problems with the runs in behind he makes. He’s an all-action energy type.

‘When we brought him into the club, we knew there was a development angle on it, ie a young player coming over from Northern Ireland who hasn’t had any taste of the Football League yet.

‘It is testament to how well he has done, especially in pre-season, was when he was selected for the first squad against Bristol Rovers, when others were left out.

‘Overall we are really positive and excited about him, not just what he can bring in the future but also how much he can impact the side now.

‘If we were just putting him into that development pigeonhole then he’d be out of all squads, probably just tucked far away, maybe even going out on loan – but there has been no talk of that whatsoever.’

Pompey will rotate their squad against the Cottagers this evening, with Ryley Towler, Sean Raggett and Ben Stevenson also expected to join Devlin in being handed starts.

Mousinho added: ‘You look at the strength of competition in the squad, so keep your head down, keep working away and your chance will come.

‘It’s a long campaign, we have 42 league games left, we are still in the early, early stages of the season. There’s plenty of football to come for everyone.

‘Terry is very much part of the first-team squad.’