'Good luck to him': Portsmouth boss hoping loan man can bounce back from underwhelming Charlton start
Tom McIntyre’s Charlton frustrations have finally eased, albeit a debut consisting of four minutes on the left wing.
Nonetheless, John Mousinho is hopeful the out-of-favour Pompey defender will finally be handed the first-team minutes he desperately needs from the loan move.
However, it has been a tough time at The Valley so far for McIntyre who, five games in, at last made his debut on Saturday.
Before the visit of Exeter, he had failed to make Nathan Jones’ squad on two occasions, while was unused off the bench during another two outings.
Yet he was introduced as a substitute in the 86th minute of Charlton’s 3-0 success at the weekend, replacing Conor Coventry and being handed a wing role rather than his customary centre-half position.
And Mousinho is keeping his fingers crossed that more match minutes are on the way.
Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘We keep an eye on all the players we have out on loan and we want them to play.
‘I don’t know what the circumstances are with Charlton and Tom at the moment. It’s just one of those things where I’m sure Tom will play more, while he’s not had a huge amount of football going into it.
‘To be honest, it’s something which is completely up to Charlton and not at the top of our list of priorities at the minute.
‘Good luck to him. The loan is about getting Tom games. If he can get games then that’s great, that’s the most important thing for Tom - and then for us having him back next year.’
Earlier last week, McIntyre had turned out as an over-age player for Charlton’s under-21s in a Professional Development League clash with their Millwall counterparts.
He was named as a left-sided centre-half in a back three, featuring for 62 minutes in the 1-0 success for the Addicks.
Boss Jones has also spoken about the possibility of introducing the ex-Reading man into the centre of midfield for this side, rather than in defence.
Although Mousinho admits it’s a position he has never contemplated fielding McIntyre in since his January 2024 arrival at Fratton Park.
He added: ‘I know Tom has done that in the past for Reading. When we recruited him, we looked at the versatility he had, centre-half, left-back, central midfield. However, it’s not something we have considered.
‘I think Tom’s position is centre-half, but he’s definitely good enough on the ball to be able to play in the centre of midfield.’