Manchester United loanee Di’Shon Bernard was left out of the Portsmouth starting XI at the weekend.
As reported in the Portsmouth News, Bernard had to make do with a place on the bench for the game against top of the table Sheffield Wednesday.
Bernard also missed Pompey’s previous game, a 3-1 defeat at Barnsley.
The manner of the loss at Oakwell led to fans calling for Bernard to be recalled to the side on Saturday.
However, that wasn’t the case and Portsmouth went on to suffer back-to-back defeats, losing at home to Wednesday 1-0.
The two recent defeats have left Pompey’s playoff hopes hanging by a thread.
John Mousinho’s side are sat in tenth place in League One and twelve points behind Bolton, who occupy the final playoff place, in sixth.
Bernard’s weekend omission means he has only featured three times for Portsmouth since his January loan move from United.
His last game came on February 18 as an 82nd-minute substitute in the game against Lincoln.
The 22-year-old will be desperate for more minutes in the final part of the season as he aims to impress Erik ten Hag in a bid to earn a place in United’s squad next season.
United are currently well stocked at centre-back but spaces in the squad may open up in the summer should players move on.
If Ten Hag doesn’t deem Bernard good enough to for United, good performances if and when he gets back into the Pompey side could earn him a permanent move at the of the season.
Bernard has made just one senior appearance for United, playing in the Europa League against Astana, in 2019.
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