£200k ex-Sunderland man challenged by manager after 11th start in 14 months

The former Sunderland man, who departed Wearside to join Portsmouth for £200k in January 2022, has only made 11 starts for the Fratton Park club during his 14 months down south.

Mousinho told The Portsmouth News after starting Hume against Morecambe: “I was really pleased with Denver’s performance. If you consider all the circumstances around it, he hasn’t played too many minutes at all, he wasn’t in the squad on Friday, then came in and I thought performed excellently.

“I certainly cannot fault Denver against Morecambe, especially not having had the game time I know he would have liked and probably deserved. He was excellent down that left side. They didn’t really have too much of an attacking threat and he got into some really good positions higher up, it’s one of the things that Denver is excellent at.

"He had a shot blocked in the first half and a couple of mazy runs when he got away from players with a bit of pace and power, while there was that late cross for Reeco. Denver has a really nice left foot, you saw that on Monday, and hopefully he keeps on improving, keeps performing.

“To keep playing in the side it’s the same as it has been previously, nothing’s changed. I expect him to come and perform well because I know he’s trained really well. He needs to keep challenging for that shirt with if and when Connor’s back, making sure he keeps his head down and performs when he possibly can.”