Portsmouth forgotten man set to solve John Mousinho's selection headache against Port Vale

Summer signing Ben Stevenson has still to make his league debut, while has been included in just four League One squads so far for the table-toppers.

Instead involvement has been restricted purely to cup competitions, having totalled three starts from Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy fixtures.

However, with Marlon Pack ruled out for up to six weeks through ankle ligament damage and Alex Robertson serving a one-match ban, Mousinho is delving deeper into his squad.

That has catapulted Stevenson into the frame to face Port Vale on Saturday – the only outfield player recruited this summer still to make his league bow.

And Pompey’s head coach is backing the former Coventry and Forest Green man to shine should he receive the selection nod.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Marlon and Joe (Morrell) have been two of our better players this season, they have a really good partnership in the middle of the park,

‘When Marlon was injured, it seemed natural for Alex (Robertson) to drop back after he did that in the second half against Wigan. It continued his good form and gave us the opportunity to bring in a 10.

‘Ben understands that, he has been training really well, he’s played pretty well in the cup games, but it has been one of those situations where you have a good player who isn't necessarily involved in the side or the squad.

‘He has probably deserved to be in a lot more squads than he has. He had a good pre-season, especially in the Crawley game where he was involved in quite a few of the goals.

‘Ben’s an excellent central midfielder, that's why we brought him in, but the problem is the form of a couple of players ahead of him.

‘There’s nothing he can do about that, just keep his head down, stay fit, work hard and make sure that, when he does get his chance at some point, he produces.

‘He’s quite versatile, he played as a six and an eight when Forest Green had their League Two-winning side, he can run as well as handle the ball, he has excellent technique and range of passing, while covers the defensive ground very well.

‘I would predominantly see him as a six. Ben’s a very calm and composed young man and, overall, an excellent footballer.’

Stevenson, was Pompey’s sixth summer signing, arriving a week into the transfer window in June.

He subsequently travelled with the squad for their Marbella training camp and featured regularly in their pre-season friendly schedule.

Mousinho added: ‘We had a very good look at him pre-season.

‘That was another advantage of being able to bring him in so early and having him throughout the pre-season trip, he was involved in all the pre-season games.

‘When he did play, I thought he was excellent and very, very unlucky not to start the season.’