Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley reveals good-will gesture he handed Ronan Curtis - despite winger sitting out Oxford and Accrington games because of two-match ban

The Blues forward was handed a two-match ban following his booking against Fleetwood to add further pressure on Cowley following injuries to Reeco Hackett, Michael Jacobs, Sean Williams and Kieron Freeman.

Pompey’s head coach might, therefore, have been forgiven for making the 25-year-old pay the price for missing crucial fixtures against Oxford United and Accrington.

A fine or even some extra training could have easily been heading the former Derry man’s way.

Instead, Cowley revealed how he went easy on Curtis, who has racked up 36 appearances this season and seven goals.

The Blues boss explained how he allowed the player to return home to Ireland for a small period in order to spend time with his young family.

Although, he wasn’t aware of the cheeky dig Curtis sent to Oxford via Twitter after watching the 3-2 win from across the Irish Sea.

‘I didn’t see it (the tweet) because I try to stay off social media,’ said Cowley.

‘We gave Ronan a couple of days off, actually, to visit his little one in Ireland, so he went and did that.

‘However, I wasn’t aware of that tweet but it was a good and important win for us.

‘It puts us in a good place in our season and a position we can hopefully push on from.’

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