And he believes Pompey’s new-found strength in depth allows him to be more cautious over playing comebacks following injury.
Potts has missed the last two matches through a calf issue, with replacement midfielder Isaac Hayden subsequently helping the Blues to successive victories during that absence.
According to Mousinho, the West Ham loanee will be assessed on Friday, when he is pencilled in for a return to training outside.
Regardless, Pompey’s head coach is favouring not risking the 21-year-old on Saturday – with the trip to Luton (March 1) instead in his sights.
Mousinho told The News: ‘Freddie is okay, he’s slightly slower on the progress than we would have hoped, but we’re still looking at whether he is available for this weekend or not.
‘Hopefully we can get him out on the grass Friday and see how he is.
‘Take the loans out of it, we wouldn’t want that clouding any decision making, but it’s good if you don’t have to rush a player back and can give them an extra couple of days, particularly with a muscular injury.
‘It also helps if you are coming off the back of a couple of wins, when we’re probably settled in terms of positions anyway.
‘Our squad is stronger now, which does come into it, definitely. But as soon as Freddie is fit, we are not going to hold him back.
‘We want Fred back as soon as possible, definitely, he’s been brilliant this season and played pretty much every game he’s been available for, apart from the ones we’ve rested him. He’s been a pivotal part of what we are trying to achieve.
‘We now have that squad depth. Maybe where we were 6-8 weeks ago, it might have been different, but we’re in a different position now.’
Should Potts not be included on Saturday, that will resolve the loanee issue – albeit temporarily.
Pompey presently have six on their books and, with a maximum of five allowed in a match-day squad, one of Potts, Mark O’Mahony, Adil Aouchiche, Rob Atkinson, Kaide Gordon or Isaac Hayden would have to miss out.
As it is, Mousinho has yet to have all six to choose from since the transfer window closed earlier this month.
He added: ‘We’ll just have to make a decision based on what we think is going to be the best team selection – the best squad selection – for any match-day. Everybody involved knows that.
‘We were happy with making the decision and I was happy making the decision, knowing I have to deal with that if we’ve got all six fit.
‘We’ve then gone into a situation where Fred has been injured, so we brought Mark (O’Mahony) in and he has made a difference, so it felt like a good decision at the minute.
‘We just have to handle that between now and the end of the season.’
Discussion about this post