New Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho isn’t ruling out on-loan Blues striker Joe Pigott returning to Fratton Park next season.
Pigott has appeared 10 times since Mousinho took charge towards the end of January with his only start Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in which the 29-year-old was named Pompey’s Man of the Match.
However, Mousinho says he has been impressed with Pigott, who has been at Fratton Park for the season, and isn’t ruling out the former AFC Wimbledon man, who has another year left on his Blues contract, returning for 2023/24.
"I don’t know what his situation is at Ipswich but everything Joe has done so far wouldn’t put me off having him back,” he told the Portsmouth News.
"I’ve been really impressed with Joe in terms of what he does on the pitch but I’m more impressed with Joe in terms of what he does off the pitch and in training.
"He’s kept his head down, he’s trained hard, he’s been brilliant around the place, he’s a lively character.
"It’s not just about that, it’s not just what he does to keep the morale of the squad up and keep smiles on faces but it’s also how good he is out there [on the pitch].
"He’s been really unlucky for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the shape change hasn’t helped in playing with just one up top but also Colby [Bishop]’s form.
"One thing which is really good with Joe is that we asked him to drop into the number 10 position so he could link the play between the midfield and the forwards.
"It’s a testament to what a player he is to do that because he’s used to playing against two centre-halves and we’re asking him to drop in and be a bit cleverer. We knew he could do it and he’s a really good option to have.”
Overall this season, Pigott has made 13 starts and 23 sub appearances for Pompey, scoring five times.