Portsmouth boss weighs up Sheffield Wednesday keeper picture with former Tottenham man in line for first league start in three years

That’s with the back-up keep in line to appear in tomorrow’s Championship showdown against the Owls at Fratton Park, amid the Blues’ keeping issues.

Archer was handed his first appearance since his summer arrival from QPR in the 2-0 loss at Cardiff on Tuesday night, after Nicolas Schmid was forced off in Wales.

The Austrian was suffering from blurred vision leading to his withdrawal, with his replacement shining on an otherwise bleak evening.

With Will Norris struggling with a knee issue, there is the prospect of Archer starting his first league game since a 3-0 loss at Wycombe for Middlesbrough in May 2021.

That is something Mousinho is more than comfortable with, on what is shaping up to be another significant clash for his side.

He said: ‘I thought Jordan was probably our best performer on the night at Cardiff.

‘There’s definite faith in Jordan. There’s no point in bringing a player to the football club who has that level of experience and the level of games in the Championship, if we don’t have faith in him.

‘If we didn’t have faith in Jordan we would’ve brought someone else in or done something different. That’s the reason we brought him in and he played at Cardiff.’

Archer excelled with a number of decent stops, as Omer Riza’s side racked up 26 shots on goal at the Cardiff City Stadium. There was a shaky moment the 31-year-old came through with the ball at feet, however, but Mousinho feels the Londoner is capable in that department.

He added: ‘I think that was a decision Jordan will look back on and think he should’ve cleared his lines. 

‘The pace of the game was that quick with centre-forwards closing you down quickly, it was just get rid of the ball and not put yourself at risk. That was probably his only hairy moment, otherwise I thought he was superb.

‘We’ve been a bit more direct over the past couple of weeks and we’ve tried to simplify the game for the lads, but there’s still plenty of opportunities to play from the back.’