Portsmouth manager Paul Hart says keeper Asmir Begovic is still very much in his plans, despite sending him out on loan to Town for three months. Begovic is with the Blues until January and has started the last two matches.

Hart said: "Asmir needs games, he needs to gain that experience. We've got three goalkeepers now who are fit, and it was an opportunity to get him much-needed experience. Hopefully he will come back with that benefit and that can benefit us somewhere down the line.

"We know he needs these games to get to a point where he can get valuable game-related experience.

"He's been there. When he's gone in he's done very well, he's still only young — he's only 21. I am not going to heap a load of pressure on him and say he's going to be David James's replacement at any time in the next 10 years, but maybe he will."

Richard Wright has been rested for the two recent games with Arran Lee-Barrett, who is on a short-term deal until January, continuing as the replacement keeper on the bench.

Town are set to sign Bohemians keeper Brian Murphy on a Bosman when the Irish season ends next month. The 26-year-old will be unable to play competitively until he formalises his move when the transfer window opens in January.

Photo: Action Images

Ross added 09:40 - Oct 22 Shame, I think he looks a good keeper…
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John_Warks_Willy added 09:52 - Oct 22 i don't think Paul Hart will be there for much longer so his comments are prob irrelevant anyway
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SomershamBlue added 10:05 - Oct 22 No surprise - he is only on loan, after all. If he's any good (and if James moves to Spurs in January) then Pompey will want him back. They will also have an eye on a possible bid from 'Town in January and be making the right noises to keep the price up - i.e. "he's our player and in our plans".
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NW10_Tractor added 10:07 - Oct 22 Unfortunately for me I sit in the Upper North, so does anyone know if this new fella is as vocal as Wrighty is??? Is he commanding?
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Golaboots added 10:07 - Oct 22 I'd take it as a 'He'll for for us when we're in the Championship' type of remark.
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dobbie73 added 10:09 - Oct 22 I'm sure Keano can go to the south coast and maybe "persuade" Hart to let Begovic come here permanently.... he just needs to give him that withering look, lol. Seriously, although Begovic hasn't been heavily tested yet, his distribution and command of the box looks good, and he seems a worthy alternative to Wrighty. I know many have questioned why Wrighty has been dropped, citing Keano's "man-management" and so-called inexplicable team changes. But hows this for an amazing revelation ..... just maybe, Keano simply felt that Wrighty was under too much pressure having played behind an unsettled and leaky defence for too long. And rather than allowing his confidence to be shattered, he let him have a few games off to recharge and recuperate. An example of the "arm around the shoulder" possibly. And as an added bonus, Begovic provides proper competition to Wrighty, thus keeping each player on his toes! A positive view of the situation maybe, but an alternative to the views suggesting a bust-up between Wrighty and his manager, or dropped because of performances and mistakes etc. But as long as the team benefits, then the decisions made should be applauded. Anyone else?

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 10:14 - Oct 22 dobbie73: RK pushing the "comfort and support" button? That really is a revolutionary theory! Still, we must all be open to a re-think of our basic philosophies from time to time, so you never know.
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Manic_Blue added 10:15 - Oct 22 Begovic seems to stay in his 6 yard box a lot more. If that's what he's happy with and the defence know he isn't going to dominate the whole area when crosses come in, then it isn't necessarilly a problem. Maybe Wright was trying to do too much and the defenders weren't quite on the same wavelength. Having said that, I prefer to see keepers pro-active and coming for crosses rather than purely reacting if the defence doesn't clear it.

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JayITFC added 10:38 - Oct 22 The fact that this guy will be gone by January is why I see playing him as upsetting the apple cart. Yes we needed a back-up to Wrighty, bring him in and sit him on the bench. But by playing him Keane is making change for changes sake which further upsets the side and pisses one of our most respected senior pros off. Wrighty hasn't been so bad he needed to be dropped - far from it! There are others WAY out ahead of him on that front. When this new guy goes back in January then what happens? A very annoyed Wrighty comes back in short of match fitness, confidence and sharpness and we're as we were. The GK did not need changing. It's a CB we needed on loan...

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DalianAtkinson added 10:41 - Oct 22 Well said Dobbie73. Most of the comments on here are too quick to critise. Wrighty had no competition or cover. Interesting to see how this devlops during January with Murphy coming over and Lee-Barrett possibly being released? I don't care who is playing at the moment, just a win or 20!
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Cr0wman added 10:43 - Oct 22 NW10_Tractor I stand in Lower North/Robson, yes he is vocal and organises well, he certainly let Pablo know that he was not concentrating and that he had the wall in the wrong place on Tuesday night ;)
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borge added 10:57 - Oct 22 Despite still not being a fan of RK, I agree with Dobbie's sound and well reasoned arguments. Wright's confidence was low and there was no doubt that this was at least in part down to those playing in front of him. Begovic has come in with confidence and this has played its part in steadying the ship.
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BrightBlue added 11:43 - Oct 22 We will have Wright and Murphy in January providing everything goes through with the latters transfer. Roy has said he likes to have three keepers so I think he'll keep Lee-Barrett for emergency cover. I do like the look of Begovic, he certainly seems to have given the defence some confidence but I feel he will only be here for the agreed 3 months.
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jamie22 added 12:29 - Oct 22 I know he's only 18 but we have McLoughlin... so if we did get Begovic for the rest of the season we would have 5 keepers so for that reason I don't think Begovic will be permanent if we get Murphy
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brogansnose added 13:31 - Oct 22 Too early to say really as he has not had a lot to do.He does do almighty throws and his distribution is not bad either.If we were to go for someone to replace Wrighty ( which is hypothetical ) then why not go for Kelvin Davis ?
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sonian_blue added 14:07 - Oct 22 Distribution is 100 times better than Plug although not difficult.
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PunchNoHopers added 15:23 - Oct 22 It obvious he is getting first team experience with us and then going back and be first choice when David James is sold in January.
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jakeitfcster added 16:58 - Oct 22 We do have that new keeper coming in Jan so who knows how good he'll be?? I fear he'll be another Healy though!
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