'We are big fans of Tom': Portsmouth boss addresses Fratton Park future of ex-Reading and Charlton man Tom McIntyre

John Mousinho has addressed Tom McIntyre’s Pompey future.

And he insists the Blues’ coaching staff remain ‘big fans’ of the out-of-favour central defender, who finished last season on loan at Charlton.

The former Reading man finds himself well down the pecking order at centre-half following a disappointing second campaign at Fratton Park.

Having struggled for form since returning from long-term injury, McIntyre hasn’t featured for Mousinho’s men since the January FA Cup defeat at Wycombe.

He subsequently joined Charlton on loan for the second half of the campaign, making 10 appearances as they triumphed in the League One play-off final at Wembley.

Now, having been granted an additional week off, the 26-year-old is back at Fratton Park - albeit with an unclear future amid Pompey having six centre-halves on their books.

‘We will see how Tom reports back’

When asked about McIntyre’s future, Mousinho told The News: ‘With Tom, we will see how he comes back from the extended break.

‘We had given him an extra week off because he had the play-off final with Charlton, but he returned on Wednesday for the testing. He will go to Slovakia.

‘Tom went away with Charlton on loan at the back end of last season, but it was a difficult one for him to really get involved in. When he signed for Charlton, they were on a very, very good run.

‘They obviously ended up getting promoted with a really, really solid defence, although he didn’t get a huge amount of minutes there. However, it was good exposure to have and played a couple of games.

‘So we will see how Tom reports back. We are big fans of Tom here in terms of his contributions that he’s had over the year-and-a-half he has been here - and we’re looking forward to getting him going again.’

Dogged by Portsmouth bad luck

McIntyre has been dogged by misfortune since joining Pompey from Reading in January 2024 to bolster their League One promotion push.

Just 54 minutes into his debut against Northampton, he broke his left ankle in a tackle with Mitch Pinnock - and was also sent off in the process.

The red card was subsequently rescinded upon appeal, yet McIntyre was ruled out for the remainder of the season through injury.

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He returned in the summer of 2024, only to sustain a hamstring injury against Wycombe during a pre-season friendly to sideline the central defender once more.

McIntyre eventually returned to Mousinho’s side in September 2024 - nine months after his previous appearance - when he lined-up against West Brom in a 3-0 defeat.

He eventually started 10 successive matches, before making way for Marlon Pack in the centre of defence, with Pompey’s head coach preferring his skipper in an unfamiliar role.

Overlooked for Charlton’s Wembley final

Following the signing of Rob Atkinson in January, McIntyre was loaned to a resurgent Charlton, who boasted one of the best defences in League One.

As a consequence, he struggled to feature, making just four starts, and didn’t appear in their final six matches during his time there.

That included the play-offs, when McIntyre failed to make the bench in the semi-finals and then the Wembley 1-0 success over Leyton Orient as Nathan Jones’ men secured a return to the Championship.

Now he’s back at Fratton Park, joining a congested centre-half department which also includes Conor Shaughnessy, Regan Poole, Ibane Bowat, Hayden Matthews and Ryley Towler.

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