Portsmouth boss lifts lid on ex-Cardiff man's surprise absence - and why Josh Martin started

John Mousinho has revealed how a ‘family incident’ was behind Josh Martin’s surprise Pompey start.

Gavin Whyte had been lined-up to feature on the Blues’ left wing in Saturday’s encounter with Blackpool.

However, the Northern Ireland international pulled out on Thursday for personal reasons, forcing Mousinho to turn to his newest recruit.

Martin recently signed a two-month deal after impressing in training with the Blues since the end of September following his Norwich release.

And Mousinho was pleased with the attacker’s maiden outing.

He told The News: ‘Unfortunately Gavin has had a family incident so wasn't available, but Josh coming in off the left is a pretty good position for him.

‘He showed some real glimpses in the first half, he got through and nearly scored, and he'll build his match fitness up. I think he will be a really valuable asset for us.

‘Gavin was going to start as well. I felt that, off the back of the international break, he had come back in really good form and was brilliant in training, although we haven’t seen the best of him yet.

‘It’s a disappointing one and hopefully we’ll get more news in the next couple of days. We knew on Thursday, so had enough time to adjust.

‘It’s not for me to comment what it is, but I think everybody will probably respect Gavin’s privacy at the moment. It's one of those things that’s really unfortunate.

‘It’s a bit of a shock and a bit of a shame for Gavin, but it’s a long, long season. He is absolutely fine, though, there's nothing to worry about there.'

It represented Martin’s first competitive appearance since February 25, when he featured as a Barnsley substitute against Derby.

On Saturday, he was involved for 56 minutes before replaced by Christian Saydee in the 4-0 defeat.

Mousinho added: ‘Josh hadn’t played for a while, which is why we brought him off after 55 minutes.

‘We knew his legs would be tiring, so really wanted to make sure we protected him. Unfortunately the first thing which happened when we did make the substitution was we conceded.

‘It’s really good to get the minutes under his belt and we'll just have to see what happens on Tuesday night. It was good for him to be involved.’