Portsmouth favourite Terry Devlin still counting the cost of season-ending injury against Leicester
Decision made not to rush Portsmouth defender back from injury too early as latest Northern Ireland squad announced
The injury Terry Devlin picked up at the end of last season has prevented him from adding to his Northern Ireland caps tally.
The popular Pompey defender has not been included in Michael O’Neill’s 23-man squad for their international friendlies against Guinea (June 4) and France (June 8), with the hamstring injury picked up during the Blues’ Championship victory against Leicester on April 18 ruling him out of contention.
The 22-year-old suffered the setback in the opening 15 minutes of the game against the Foxes at Fratton Park.
A 4-5 week recovery timeframe had been identified for Pompey’s official player of the year, who was forced to sit out the Blues’ last three games of the season against Coventry, Stoke and Birmingham.
However, the decision has been taken not to needlessly rush the converted right-back’s comeback, meaning he’ll play no part in manager O’Neill’s first games in charge after he agreed a new lucrative four-year deal with the Irish Football Association following a temporary job-share stint at Blackburn Rovers at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
That will come as a huge disappointment to the Dungannon-born ace, whose reputation has soared after he established himself as a first-team regular for John Mousinho’s last term.
The determined Fratton favourite made the right-back berth his own after being handed the chance against Wrexham in November.
His impressive, consistent displays were also accompanied by some spectacular goals that ultimately led Devlin to claim 17 Pompey supporters’ clubs’ player of the year awards, including The News/Sports Mail accolade.
Meanwhile, his eye-catching performances weren’t limited to Pompey. Indeed, the four-times-capped interntaional defender shone for his country after being handed a starting role in their World Cup play-off against Italy in March - an impressive display that was then followed by a man-of-the-match performance against Wales just days later.
Devlin was visibly gutted when his season ended in disappointing circumstances against Leicester. It’s widely believed his 101st appearance for the Blues that day could easily have been his last for the club, with Pompey bracing themselves for interest in the full-back once the transfer window opens.
In January, Wrexham has a £2m bid for Devlin rejected.
Speaking to The News last week, though, chief executive Andy Cullen said Pompey were under no pressure to sell their player of the year or top scorer Adrian Segecic.
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