'Dead on his feet': Portsmouth boss lifts lid on Paddy Lane's controversial Northern Ireland snub

And he believes the winger’s controversial choice will benefit Pompey in the Championship next season.

The talented Lane last month earned criticism from Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill after rejecting a call-up for June friendlies against Spain and Andorra.

Although regularly involved in international squads since March 2022, frustratingly the 23-year-old has earned just four caps to date.

The former Fleetwood attacker was one of the stars of Pompey’s League One title campaign, reflected by 12 goals from either the left or right wing.

And following a gruelling season, Mousinho has backed Lane’s decision to rest this summer rather than represent his county.

The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘I always like players to have that international exposure, it’s a really good reflection of the football club and what the players have done.

‘I had a chat with Paddy about it at the time, he has his own reasons for not taking the call-up and my take was “Whatever decision you make, I will support you”. Certainly there is never any pressure from the club to not accept international call-ups.

‘He made that decision and we fully support him - and there are going to be benefits for us. It’s something he decided was the right thing to do off the back of last season.

‘You will have to speak to Paddy about the reasons and whether he is comfortable sharing them publicly, but, from his point of view, the way things developed from this season on the pitch, he wanted to be fresh to attack the Championship.

‘Paddy was shattered, that was the reason we brought him out for Barnsley. At Bolton he looked absolutely dead on his feet, he didn’t have the zip and the spark about him that he’d had previously.

‘By the time he came back into the team at Lincoln, he was back at it, scored and looked a lot better. He needed that break, he had played so many games.

‘We need to remember it was his third season in full-time professional football. He’d never really had that season of competing day in, day out with the demands of a side trying to get promoted.’

Lane netted 12 times in 45 appearances last term, with only Colby Bishop (21) and Kusini Yengi (12) scoring more.

Undoubtedly he will once again be a key performer in the Blues’ Championship return, particularly with Abu Kamara having returned to parent club Norwich.

Mousinho added: ‘There are going to be positives and negatives to it. The positive for us is Paddy has been off and been able to follow our off-season programme.

‘He was absolutely outstanding last season, brilliant for us, and, as a coach, the absolute ideal is for players to always be fresh and always be ours.

‘But I also love seeing players getting international recognition and seeing what Kusini is achieving with Australia makes me proud.’