'This was the perfect moment': John Mousinho on how Hayling Island youngster staked eye-catching claim for a Portsmouth future

And the Blues’ head coach was full of praise for the 19-year-old after emerging from his Fratton Park test with flying colours.

Despite six previous appearances for the ex-Oaklands School pupil, Saturday’s visit of Accrington marked his full league debut.

A memorable occasion for Jewitt-White, who replaced Ryan Tunnicliffe in the centre of midfield and featured for 64 minutes.

The avid Pompey fan is among the 13 players out of contract in the summer, yet the club have a 12-month option – and he gave Mousinho plenty to think about.

The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘Harry has deserved his opportunity, he’s been very patient this season, waiting for his chance to play at Fratton Park.

‘We’re trying to build for the future and had to see what Harry was all about.

‘I’ve seen plenty of him in training, but not actually starting a game – and this was the perfect moment for him to show us what he’s all about.

‘He was unfortunately ill for the Hampshire Senior Cup game at Bournemouth and would have played in that, which was frustrating. It’s important for us to see players like Harry and what they're going to do under the pressure of playing at Fratton Park.

‘He was excellent, he provided us with some good moments in the first-half, was calm and composed on the ball, stuck at his task physically, and went into a couple of tackles really well.

‘There's obviously plenty to work on with Harry, but the message to him, which I said when he came off, is it wasn’t a tactical substitution.

‘It was just that maybe the adrenaline and excitement of playing your first game meant the last 20 minutes might have drifted away from him with his legs, so I wanted to protect him from that.

‘We won't be rushed into any snap judgement on Harry’s future at the moment.

‘We’ll review the game and go through everything with Harry himself and see how the next couple of weeks pan out for him.’

Jewitt-White was one of two changes, with Ryley Towler coming in for Sean Raggett in the centre of defence.

Tunnicliffe and Reeco Hackett were excluded from the 18-man squad completely, while Denver Hume and Jay Mingi were absent through knocks collected in training on Friday.

Mousinho added: ‘We had the two away games last week and we wanted was to freshen things up, particularly in the middle of the park.

‘Handing Harry his debut was about getting legs on the pitch, we wanted him to inject a bit of energy and a bit of aggression. I thought he did that, very, very well.’