‘Up to the level at top end of League One’

John Mousinho is adamant Matt Macey’s Pompey exit is a decision which suits all parties.

And the Blues boss backed the keeper to find a new home ‘at the top end of League One’ next season.

Macey was among the 10 names told they wouldn’t be having their contracts renewed, as they come to a close this summer.

The 29-year-old was recruited in the January window, when leaving Premier League Luton Town in September following a two-year stint at Kenilworth Road.

It offered Pompey some sturdy back-up, after Ryan Schofield had struggled in his outings following his summer arrival.

With Will Norris everpresent in the league and excelling, Macey was never called upon to add to the 21 appearances he made over the second half of the 202223 season.

But his form in that time showed the former Arsenal man’s capabilities, with there a clamour for his permanent signing before the Norris deal was sealed.

Mousinho gave Pompey’s thinking behind the Macey decision, with there no doubt he can be an operator pushing for promotion to the Championship next term.

He said: ‘With Matt, both sides are pretty happy with the decision.

‘In terms of Matt, if we’d offered him something as a back-up keeper, I think it’s something that he would have turned down.

‘He wants to go and be a number one somewhere - and I definitely think he can be.

‘From our view we’re a bit biased, but we think he is certainly up to the level at the top end of League One. He’s going to get himself a football club.

‘He played at the back end of last season and provided us with stability. Then we knew if anything happened to Will he gave us an option at the back end of this year.

‘So we’ll do our very best to ensure Matt gets regular football next season. It’s something that he hasn’t had for a while, so getting that is really important to him.’

Despite being 29, Macey has only ever made 105 league appearances, including

35 for

Hibernian and 34 for Plymouth in 2018/19. He only made one start for Luton, in a League Cup loss to Newport.

Matt Macey, right, has been released

Matt Macey, below, did not play a game after returning to Pompey in January