'A big, big part of our survival': Portsmouth boss applauds ex-Newcastle United man ahead of Fratton Park reunion
The midfielder made 17 appearances for Pompey last season
Pompey come face to face with one of the architects of last season’s triumphant battle to remain in the Championship.
And John Mousinho admits he attempted to keep Isaac Hayden at Fratton Park permanently following his successful loan spell, yet ‘nothing came of it’.
The Jamaican international is these days on the books of QPR, having joined on a free transfer in August after negotiating his release from his Newcastle contract.
Last season, the midfielder’s January arrival at Fratton Park on loan helped push the Blues to Championship safety as they enjoyed an impressive second half to the campaign.
Hayden featured 17 times, including 12 starts, as he dislodged Andre Dozzell at times - and Mousinho has sung the praises of the 30-year-old, whose QPR side travel to the south coast on Boxing Day.
‘His record was incredibly good’
He told The News: ‘We spoke to Isaac at the back end of the season about what that looked like (coming back), but nothing came of it during the summer.
‘He had come into a struggling side in January and just made us a lot better, his record was incredibly good when we started games.
‘We took him out for a couple of games and probably didn’t get the results and maybe not the performances, but Isaac then came back in.
‘He kept his head down, trained really well, and had that ability to calm things down when he was on the pitch and off the pitch. He was a big, big part of everything we managed to achieve last year.
‘To be honest, there are not many times you get those sort of players staring at you in the face when you have the opportunity to take somebody who’s had Premier League experience and who knows the level.
‘He’d had such a big impact in dragging QPR out of where they were the previous year, so it was one that was a no-brainer for us at the time.’
Left Newcastle by mutual consent in August
Hayden had his Newcastle contract cancelled by mutual consent at the start of August and subsequently joined QPR four games in.
It represented his second spell at Loftus Road, yet he has struggled to establish himself in Julien Stephan’s team this time around, with just three starts.
In total, Hayden has made nine appearances in all competitions this season, including being named on the bench for the last six fixtures and introduced just twice.
Regardless, he is likely to remain in Rangers’ 20-man squad on Boxing Day as the seventh-placed side bid to build on their impressive half half of the campaign.
Mousinho added: ‘We brought Isaac in to strengthen us in the middle of the park and originally played him as a six.
‘Then we decided to play him a bit higher up and have Potts dropping a bit more. He dislodged Andre, but that was a nice combination to have in the middle of the park.’
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