Portsmouth boss on why 'excellent' starlet is back in from the cold after eye-catching Championship debut

Unfortunately, the impressive Terry Devlin still couldn’t conjure up the victory the Blues so desperately needed against Sheffield Wednesday, nonetheless rightly earned plenty of plaudits from the Fratton faithful.

John Mousinho, the head coach who handed the Northern Irishman his first league start since January, also hailed the display as ‘excellent’.

Devlin had only returned to Pompey’s 20-man squad for QPR, having previously been omitted for six successive matches.

Yet following two substitute outings, he was named in the starting XI against the Owls and provided the energy and aggression so alarmingly missing at times this season.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Terry was great, his performance was excellent, particularly as it was his first Championship start and with playing out of position as well.

‘I’m really, really happy with Terry’s contribution, he is going to kick on and go from strength to strength.

‘He got back into the squad not because of injuries - we had fit players who could come in ahead of him against QPR and Cardiff.

‘Terry came back into the side because he deserved to. It’s about what he’s done in training, that’s how we go about our business, we look at what players do every day in training and we pick teams and squads off the back of that.

‘I know not everybody can see that, but Terry always does that, he always gives us everything we need.’

Devlin damaged shoulder ligaments in an aerial challenge with Oxford United’s Greg Leigh in January, requiring surgery.

By the time he returned to first-team duty, Mousinho’s men had won the League One title, with the midfielder handed a cameo off the bench in the final match at Lincoln.

After fading away following three appearances in the opening four fixtures of this season, he’s now back in the first-team fold attempting to make up for lost time.

Mousinho added: ‘He has come in against Sheffield Wednesday and did really well, it’s just the kind of performance I expected from him.

‘I think it’s fair to say Terry was man of the match.’