Aji Alese’s Pompey debut involved four minutes, a booking and playing at left-back.
But John Mousinho admits it’s a ‘delicate balance’ as he attempts to ease the Sunderland loanee into first-team action following a year-long injury absence.
The 25-year-old arrived at Fratton Park last month to bolster the Blues’ defensive options after Zak Swanson and Ibane Bowat were the makeshift centre-half partnership against Southampton.
The hy-regarded former England youth international hadn’t played since January 2025, when he was stretched off after breaking his leg and suffering a hand injury in a Championship fixture for the Black Cats against Stoke.
Indeed, Saturday’s cameo at Preston marked Alese’s first-team comeback after a 13-month absence, during which he has featured in several under-21 games.
But Mousinho doesn’t believe the central defender is ready to be handed Pompey starting opportunities.
‘It’s a delicate balance with Aji’
He told The News: ‘We thought Aji had a bit more physicality there on the left-hand side. Swanny was excellent throughout, but it was just to freshen things up and give a different dynamic.
‘He probably needs a couple more substitute appearances before he can start games, he’s not actually played league football for more than a year now, with a couple of under-21s matches.
‘So it’s a delicate balance with Aji to make sure he doesn’t break down again.
‘I thought Connor was excellent again in the centre of defence, though. Apart from the goal, I thought we defended really well.’
Certainly the form and availability of Ogilvie and Regan Poole at centre-back is allowing the breathing space for Alese to be slowly introduced into the team.
It’s a similar situation with fellow newcomer Madiodio Dia, who Mousinho believes requires a little time to adjust after arriving from the Norwegian league, having been involved in FK Haugesund’s pre-season.
Since joining from West Ham in July 2022, Alese has totalled 40 Championship appearances and one goal, although he missed the second half of last year’s promotion season with his broken leg.
In addition to Alese being presented with his Pompey debut as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat at Preston, Luton loanee Jacob Brown also made his bow, starting the match.
There was also 11 minutes off the bench at Deepdale for Gustavo Caballero, following his deadline day arrival on loan from Brazilian side Santos.
Operating on the right flank, the 24-year-old Paraguayan showed promising glimpses of attacking intent on a poor playing surface as the Blues finished strongly, albeit unable to find an equaliser.
‘Showed some really nice moments’
And Mousinho was pleased with how the South African fared in his unveiling in English football.
He added: ‘Gustavo was bright, showed some really nice moments, but it was probably a difficult one on that pitch.
‘It’s not the right surface or conditions for him to come on necessarily and showcase his full talent, but I thought he did pretty well.
‘That was a good opportunity to play him, though. Doing that for 15 minutes at the back end of the game worked well. We’ve got plenty more opportunities to see more and more of him as the season goes on.’
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