Portsmouth boss pinpoints approaching fixture target for former Ipswich Town, Wolves and Sheffield United man to join promotion race as timetable's detailed

John Mousinho has earmarked next week’s trip to Peterborough as the target for Lee Evans to join Pompey’s promotion charge.

And the Blues boss has outlined the training timetable it’s hoped will result in the new arrival being given the green light to bolster a threadbare midfield.

Evans agreed a deal until the end of the season last week, after leaving Ipswich at the start of February.

The 29-year-old has been out since undergoing knee surgery last October, but has now joined in with full training at Pompey’s Hilsea base.

The plan is for the former Wolves and Sheffield United man to accelerate his progress over the coming days culminating in a much-needed boost - hopefully at London Road next weekend.

Mousinho said: ‘Lee trained with us last Friday and Saturday, full session on Monday and modified session Tuesday. Then it was a full session Wednesday, Friday and over the weekend.

‘The Burton game will be slightly too soon for him, but what we can do over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week is give him another really good three training sessions.

‘That can give him exposure to the bigger pitches, because when you come back from rehab you get all the short and sharp stuff.

‘We’ve done quite a lot of short and sharp stuff, we need to get him exposed to bigger distances - getting him as close to match pace as we can.

‘Hopefully then it can be for the Peterborough game - and if not that Barnsley game.’

The hope for Pompey is the timing of a player of Evans’ experience and calibre aiding their promotion push can give their Championship hopes a shot in the arm at just the right time.

Mousinho added: ‘With a player like Lee who’s had such a solid and successful career he’s used to all sorts of conditions so I’m sure nothing will faze him.

‘But for us coming into that latter stage, to have that experienced head and somebody who knows exactly what he’s doing is the biggest positive for us.

‘He’s settled in really quickly and really well. That’s what we want, we don’t want players coming in and thinking about anything other than making an impact.’