Portsmouth's forgotten man reveals reasons behind wait for return as Sunderland signing makes injury comeback

The January arrival from Sunderland returned in the 2-2 Papa John’s Trophy draw against Crawley, which saw the home side grab a bonus point with a 6-5 penalty shootout success.

Hume has endured a tough lay-off after suffering a prolapsed disc in his back, which then created calf issues.

That saw a promising start to life at Fratton Park stall for the 24-year-old, as he produced a series of enterprising displays.

Hume admitted his frustration at being stuck on the sidelines, after he initially hit the ground running.

The left-back explained he wanted to ensure he was firmly over his injury issues before making his return.

Hume said: ‘It’s been a while and was at the back end of last season since I last played a competitive game.

‘It was good to get back out there and get some minutes with the lads, which is obviously important.

‘It’s been a bit frustrating and it’s been an injury where I had to be patient with it.

‘The amount of time I spent out, I didn’t really see the point of rushing it.

‘I wanted to get it right.’

Hume was withdrawn at the break, but revealed that was always the plan as he eased himself back into first-team contention.

He felt strong when being withdrawn but Pompey felt it was important to stick to the planned return as he builds up his workload.

Now the Ashington-born lad will continue to put the graft in on the training ground as he looks to challenge Connor Ogilvie for the starting left-back berth.

Hume added: ‘I’ve had a couple of weeks training and it’s been good to get out there and get 45 minutes in.

‘It’s important that those first minutes you come out of it feeling good.

‘That’s key and then you can build on getting back to your best, which I will look to do in training and games.

‘It was always the plan to do 45 minutes. The gaffer said even if feel good we’ll stick to that.

‘Now it’s about progressing from here.’