'We can get him back to his best': Portsmouth boss' first-team plans for ex-England and Stoke man after career dip

He’s a one-time England prodigy whose career hasn’t soared to the lofty levels once widely anticipated.

Nonetheless, John Mousinho is convinced Pompey can get former Stoke goalkeeper Josef Bursik ‘back to his best’.

Should Nicolas Schmid’s wrist injury prove as bad as feared, the deadline day arrival from Club Brugge will battle it out with Ben Killip for a vacated first-team spot.

Now aged 25, Bursik was once an England youth regular, totalling 35 appearances, while was part of the Three Lions’ squad which won the Under-17 World Cup in 2017.

However, despite 53 appearances for Stoke, his progress has stalled in recent years, with his last first-team outing arriving in November 2024 during a difficult loan with Hibernian.

Regardless, the Blues have recognised the talent in Bursik, having been a long-time target this summer before paying an undisclosed fee for his services on the final day of the window.

And Mousinho believes well-respected goalkeeping coach Joe Prodomo can get the former AFC Wimbledon youngster flourishing once more.

‘He has a really interesting background’

Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘Joe had a very, very promising career as a youngster and as a youth international, playing a number of games in the Championship and then going abroad.

‘There’s probably a player there who would have expected to play a bit more over the past few seasons but hasn’t, so it’s a really interesting background.

‘One of the reasons we recruited Joe is because we think we can get him back to his best and, if we do, then he’ll be a very, very competitive goalkeeper.

‘He’s a very good goalkeeper. Part of it is if we’re going to try to attract players who we think can come and impact the first-team, sometimes you have to do it in a slightly different way.

‘With a player like Joe, if we can find a way for him to regain his best form then that’s the sort of deal we want to get done.’

Unsuccessful Hibernian loan spell last season

Bursik spent last term on loan with Hibernian, where he made 17 appearances for the Scottish Premiership side in the first half of the season before dropping to the bench.

The Lambeth-born stopper made 50 Championship appearances for Stoke, with 16 league starts in the first half of the 2022-23 campaign, before sold to Club Brugge in January 2023.

His career also consists of loan spells at Hednesford, Telford, Accrington, Doncaster, Peterborough and Lincoln.

Certainly his arrival at Fratton Park appears to be timely considering the injury Schmid sustained against Southampton on Sunday.

Battling with Killip to face Sheffield Wednesday

Forced off in the 26th minute after damaging his right wrist during a collision with Connor Ogilvie, he was replaced off the bench by Killip, with the match finishing goalless.

With Pompey awaiting the full details of Schmid’s injury, it places Killip and Bursik on stand-by for Saturday’s visit of Sheffield Wednesday.

Mousinho added: ‘Joe is definitely competing. Ben has been very, very good since he signed for us in January and very, very good this pre-season as well.

‘Whoever competes for that number two spot has really got to earn it, all keepers at all times are competing for all the spots.

‘Nico clearly is the number one at the minute - when available - and deserves to be. Anything behind that we’ve just got to have fair competition.’

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