'No nicer kid in football': John Mousinho braced for Portsmouth reunion with flourishing Lincoln duo
The ex-Blues pair won League One last season with the Imps, amassing 103 points
They were once unable to break into John Mousinho’s first-team plans - now the former Pompey pair will be in Championship opposition.
Reeco Hackett was sold to Lincoln in the head coach’s Fratton Park first summer in 2023, having decided the winger wasn’t in his plans.
Ryley Towler lasted two years longer, being part of the 2023-24 League One title-winning side, before representing the Blues 12 times in the Championship.
However, he was another who would head to Sincil Bank, with a July 2025 move for an undisclosed fee, following 45 appearances and four goals.
Life after Fratton Park has been good, with the duo establishing themselves as instrumental players in the Imps’ impressive League One triumph last season.
And on Saturday, they will be facing the man who oversaw their Pompey exits.
‘I would have loved to have kept him around from a selfish standpoint’
Mousinho told The News: ‘We sold Ryley just to be fair to him, I would have loved to have kept him around from a selfish standpoint. It was just about being fair to the kid - and he has gone and done brilliantly.
‘He had a massive impact when he first came into the football club as a young lad who hadn't played a huge amount of senior football, but he’d had a pretty good loan at AFC Wimbledon.
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‘He was in the side very, very quickly after that, starting my first game against Exeter, and played a fair bit in the second half of that season.
‘In that League One title-winning campaign, Ryley was really, really unlucky. He didn’t do too badly against Bristol Rovers on the opening day of the season, but Shocks came in for the game on the Tuesday night against Forest Green, did really well, and kept his place for the rest of the year.
‘Whenever Ryley was called upon that season he did very, very well, there are a couple of games that really stand out. One was away at Fleetwood (January 2024) where he performed really well, another coincidentally was Lincoln on the last day (May 2024).
‘Then, in the Championship, he played more games than the League One season, before going to Lincoln and doing very well. He had a huge amount of success there in his first season and got promoted.
‘There is no nicer kid in football than Ryley, which I’m sure everybody knows. I wish him every success - apart from this weekend!’
Recruited for Pompey by Kenny Jackett in January 2020, Hackett went on to score 11 goals in 79 appearances.
During his time on the south coast there were loans at Bromley and Southend, while various injury issues also impacted his progress.
However, he has flourished since his June 2023 switch to Lincoln in a £40,000 deal, totalling 120 appearances and 23 goals.
‘We decided to go in a certain direction with the boys we had in the building’
Mousinho added: ‘Reeco is an interesting one. That first January transfer window there were some rumours that he was going to go and we decided not to sell him. He stayed around for the next four months and had an impact on the side.
‘Ultimately, he went to Lincoln that summer. He’s had a very, very good three years and turned himself into a Championship player.
‘We looked at it at the time and decided to go in a certain direction with the boys we had in the building. We did very well after the year we sold Reeco - and he also did very well.
‘Sometimes things work out both ways and, if Reeco had stayed, maybe he wouldn’t have had such a successful time. Maybe he would, you never know.’