Portsmouth plot first-team pathway for well-regarded Academy youngster after shining in League One

And the promising midfielder has been warned he must firstly flourish in non-league football if he wants to accomplish his destiny.

Jewitt-White was handed his full Football League debut in April and proceeded to impress in the Accrington fixture.

It was an encouraging end to a frustrating season for the 19-year-old, who made just two first-team outings and endured a disappointing Gosport loan spell.

Nonetheless, the Blues retain faith in the Wales under-19 international, having activated a club option to keep him for another 12 months.

And Rich Hughes insists now is the time for the Hayling Island youngster to blossom if he wants a future at Fratton Park.

Pompey’s sporting director told The News: ‘Having activated the option on Harry, that now comes with a pressure.

‘He has another year with us, he has to continue his development, and we must find a pathway for him playing games on a more regular basis.

‘H has had an up and down season and we need to be at this point in 12 months when we’re under no illusions of where his future lies.

‘That Accrington match was huge for him, he had been saying he was ready and it was a good game for him to play in. The biggest compliment we can give him is he didn’t look like a player making his full Football League debut.

‘That level sets a baseline standard for him and the challenge is to continue and move past that.

‘He must fire his way into John’s thoughts and, the likelihood is, that might be done via playing somewhere else on loan at the start of the season.

‘H is at that age where he must feature regularly for somebody and then he needs to find his way into the Pompey first-team – and that’s going to be the challenge.

‘The loan at Gosport didn’t work out for him and there are probably a lot of circumstances in that. Not every loan is a guaranteed success and, despite H having a lot of development athletically this year, it wasn’t a right fit.

‘That’s not a criticism of Harry and Gosport or anything in between, it just didn’t seem to find a rhythm for him, but he must now go out somewhere now and establish himself as a regular player.

‘We give our young players a message when we go out on loan – be the best player wherever you are and the next level tends to find you.’

Jewitt-White’s fellow Academy graduates Dan Gifford and Alfie Bridgman were not retained at the season’s end.

However, Josh Dockerill has been handed first-year professional terms to join the midfielder and Toby Steward around the first-team squad.

Hughes added: ‘We’re not going to say it has to be step two of non-league, it could be step 3 or step 4.

‘Being the best player at the next level will take H up and then he can work his way through quickly.

‘And let’s not rule out Harry having a brilliant pre-season and staying around the building. That will be a lovely problem for us to have.’