Portsmouth's forgotten transfer signing - and why John Mousinho is delighted to have him

Nonetheless, John Mousinho is delighted with the ‘security’ provided by forgotten Blues signing Ben Killip.

The 29-year-old fetched an undisclosed transfer fee when Pompey raided Barnsley for his services late on deadline day to bolster their squad.

Effectively replacing Will Norris, who negotiated the cancellation of his Fratton Park contract in order to join Wycombe, it leaves Mousinho with four goalkeepers at present.

Before his switch, Killip had started 21 games for the Tykes in the current season, including 17 in their League One campaign.

Nonetheless, Jordan Archer has remained second choice behind Nicolas Schmid in the five matches since the former Hartlepool keeper’s arrival.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Ben has settled down really well and provided a huge amount of competition in there. He is very similar to Kaide (Gordon), his time at the football club has coincided with the team’s really good form - good form for Nico as well.

‘I feel very assured to have a really strong goalkeeping department and I feel very assured to have three players I can call upon. Make that four with Toby (Steward) in the building as well.

‘That was the whole point in bringing Ben in, we’ve got that security. We never know what’s around the corner, but hope that, between now and the end of the season, we don’t have any hiccups. If we do, we’re really strong.

‘Ben understands fully what was expected of him coming in and he understands the opportunity as well, the opportunity for him to come and play in the Championship, to come and train every day and be part of a Championship club.

‘So there is no issue with Ben.’

Pompey’s only January signing not to play

Killip remains the only member of Pompey’s eight January transfer window signings not to be involved in the first-team squad.

Fellow newcomers Rob Atkinson, Isaac Hayden, Thomas Waddingham, Hayden Matthews, Cohen Bramall, Kaide Gordon and Adil Aouchiche have all featured to varying degrees,

Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Luton marked just Gordon’s second outing, having been introduced at half-time, while a fifth appearance for Sunderland’s Aouchiche.

However, Atkinson, Waddingham and Matthews are presently injured, with the latter ruled out of the season with an ankle injury following a promising start.

In the meantime, Mousinho insists Killip is impressed in training under the guidance of goalkeeping coach Joe Prodomo.

Pompey’s head coach added: ‘We see plenty of the goalkeepers. The sessions are usually split half and half. The goalkeepers are out before us, we have 30-45 minutes before we see the goalkeepers, so there’s plenty of exposure.

‘The most important thing for me is conversations with Joe (Prodomo) - and Joe assures me he’s doing very well.’