Contract not behind Tunni omission

John Mousinho dismissed rumours a contract clause for a new deal is behind Ryan Tunnicliffe’s Pompey omission.

And the Blues boss has praised the midfielder’s professionalism, after he was removed from his squad against Accrington last weekend.

Tunnicliffe found himself in the stands as Harry Jewitt-White was handed a full league debut.

With the 30-year-old one of the 13 players out of contract this summer, Mousinho explained he’s seen enough of Tunnicliffe now to decide what lies ahead for him. That was the key factor in him not playing, rather than another appearance triggering a contract extension.

Mousinho said: ‘I can categorically deny that (an appearance triggers a new deal), it’s not the reason he was left out.

‘I wouldn’t want to discuss a personal contract because it’s confidential, but that’s not the reason Ryan’s been left out.

‘I spoke to him last week about it and we’ve seen all we need to see from Ryan, so it’s got nothing to do with contracts.’

There was also talk Tunnicliffe didn’t take being left out of Mousinho’s squad well last weekend. The Pompey boss stated that was wide of the mark and the player has been present and training well this week.

He added: ‘Ryan’s here. I spoke to him when I said I was going to leave him out of the squad. He got it, acting like a proper professional.

‘It was probably one of the more difficult conversations for me in my time here, because he’s been so good. He was fine with it, so he said he’s going to just keep himself going for the last couple of weeks.

‘You need to be ready for whatever challenge comes next. So training hard and keeping your head up is 100 per cent the most important thing for the players.’