Portsmouth boss pinpoints when Chelsea starlet and ex-Huddersfield man will finally be ready for League One start

And the Blues’ head coach insists it will be ‘another couple of weeks’ before the Chelsea man can be handed a first-team start.

The former England youth international has made three substitute appearances since arriving at Fratton Park on a season-long loan.

Pompey are keen to ease him into first-team football after injury issues blighted previous loan spells away from Stamford Bridge.

With his team top of League One, certainly Mousinho doesn’t need to rush the process, with Manchester City’s Alex Robertson impressing in an attacking role perhaps also suited for Anjorin.

And Pompey’s boss believes he can afford to be patient.

He told The News: ‘It’s maybe going to be another couple of weeks. We don’t want to risk anything with Tino, we need to get him up to match sharpness.

‘There's never going to be an ideal time and we don’t want to take too long with him, but at the moment, in terms of players in his position, Alex was excellent against Lincoln and that’s given us a couple of extra weeks to get Tino up to speed.

‘I believe he played one game during pre-season at Chelsea, partly to do with injury, partly to do with the schedule that the under-21s have there – and that’s the difficult thing.

‘The big switch is coming from under-21 football to first-team football in League One. It’s no better or worse, there’s no criticism at all, but it is very different. The intensity is different, all of a sudden you come to Fratton Park and people are right at you.

‘Tino has come on three times for us and had an impact. I know he will want more of an impact and there are a lot of those moments where he so nearly gets there and nearly creates something in the box, it’s not just full fitness, it’s that match sharpness.

‘He’s a strong, powerful lad and it’s about maintaining that over however long he comes on for and when he starts.

‘The last thing we want for Tino is to break down. It’s all about making sure he is adjusted to life at League One, not just the games, it’s the training intensity as well.

‘The schedule is hugely different, if you look at the Premier League 2, there are usually games once a week, but sometimes there can be a month gap between fixtures.’

At the age of 21, Anjorin has just six league starts to his name, having also appeared for Huddersfield and Lokomotiv Moscow.

Fratton Park offers to alter that frustrating statistic – but perhaps not just yet.

Mousinho added: ‘We have seen Alex Robertson come in and adjust brilliantly.

‘Tino he hasn’t played a huge amount of under-21s football and hasn’t played a full 90 minutes for a long time, which is tough.

‘That’s part of it for him, making sure he adjusts. Even though he’s not a really young lad of 17-18, it’s still going to take him time.’