No sugarcoating the damning stats that show Kirk needs a loan spell

The wait spanned more than nine weeks, but finally Makenzie Kirk was able to savour precious first-team action.

- by Neil Allen

Admittedly, the outing lasted nothing more than a first half, while arrived in the colours of Northern Ireland Under-21s rather than Pompey; nonetheless, it represented time out on the pitch.

Last week’s friendly against their Portuguese counterparts ended in a 4-0 defeat, although the deficit was a more respectable two goals when the striker exited the game at the interval of the clash at the Estádio António Coimbra da Mota in Estoril.

The previous occasion the £500,000 recruit from St Johnstone had featured in a match was on March 31 - albeit once again for his country in a Euro Under-21 qualifier against Latvia.

Damningly, he has represented Northern Ireland Under-21s more times than Pompey since the end of January.

It’s an alarming statistic which reflects how far Kirk has fallen out of the first-team picture at Fratton Park since arriving from the Scottish Championship in September.