Portsmouth boss on why ex-triallist now ahead of marquee signings Gavin Whyte and Anthony Scully for first-team selection

John Mousinho has explained why Josh Martin is at the ‘forefront’ of first-team selection ahead of Pompey’s summer marquee signings.

Gavin Whyte and Anthony Scully’s tough seasons have been epitomised in recent weeks after failing to make the Blues’ last two squads.

Surprisingly, however, Martin has. The former triallist, who was handed a new short-term deal last month, has appeared off the bench in two of the last five matches.

Over that same period, Whyte and Scully haven’t been handed a single outing and made just three of the squads as they continue to slip out of first-team reckoning.

Mousinho told The News: ‘We’re just going on what we think is going to be able to impact the game and how we think players have done in training.

‘To be fair to all three of them, they’ve been training really well over the past couple of weeks and it’s quite a tough place to be when the competition for places is now back in the squad, we’ve got players back from injury, we’ve made new signings.

‘We’ve looked at the game and thought about who might affect it the most. It’s not an easy decision to be honest, all three of those players could have an impact at this stage, certainly off the bench.

‘At the minute we have decided Josh is the right person. It’s not necessarily because he might impact it more, it’s where we feel he’s at in terms of how he has been training and the types of games. I also suppose versatility in terms of positions.

‘In fairness to the three of them, they all have the ability to play across the front three. These are marginal calls, but fair play to Josh for putting himself at the forefront.’

Martin has totalled six appearances since joining the Blues in November as a free agent, following his release from Norwich.

Meanwhile, Scully and Whyte have not been used since last month’s 2-1 defeat at Cheltenham.

Mousinho added: ‘We wanted to have Josh around, he has done really well and had an impact in the games he's played. He had an impact when he came on against Port Vale.

‘Whenever you come in and effectively train with a club for 8-9 weeks without a contract, you have to work hard and, at the back end of that, we have seen everything we need to see.

‘It’s very rare you get to see a player for that period of time before you actually sign them. Without that hard work, Josh would never have been in the building in the first place.’