Jack Compton still has a Pompey future.
And Guy Whittingham promised the winger will have a part to play in a crucial period for the Blues.
Compton came close to leaving Fratton Park last week to join League Two Plymouth on loan.
With Pompey still operating under Football League squad restrictions, his departure would have freed up a space in their 20-man squad.
QPR’s teenage midfielder Frankie Sutherland was earmarked to fill that berth.
But Compton’s move to Home Park was not pushed through before the close of the emergency loan window.
Compton has found games hard to come by of late, picking up just five appearances off the bench since starting at Notts County more than two months ago.
The 24-year-old tweeted on Monday: ‘Had enough of been (sic) treated like a kid! #fedup just want to play football.’
Compton later removed the post, before insisting it was not football related.
Caretaker boss Whittingham felt Compton would have benefited from games out on loan after waiting in the wings in recent weeks.
But he told the player he is not out in the cold at Pompey, and remains in his thoughts.
Whittingham said: ‘Players sometimes feel if they are not in the squad they are out of it. Well, that’s not the case.
‘You need everybody all the time and they have to keep doing the right things all the time, because at one stage or other they will be on the pitch and will be the difference.
‘Another time Jack will be on the bench, I’ll look around, look at him and get him on. He won’t be the only one.
‘He was going to Plymouth for some games but that didn’t quite go through.
‘It just wasn’t done quickly enough. It was one of those things. It didn’t happen and that was it.
‘He (Sutherland) didn’t come in and Jack Compton didn’t go out.
‘That’s doesn’t mean Jack is out of it. We just wanted him to go and get games.
‘It didn’t come off for him, but he’s still very much part of things.’
Pompey have a weekend to catch their breath after six fixtures and a bleak run of form in November. But the Blues will have been buoyed in training this week by the last-ditch leveller in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Coventry.
Whittingham and coach Andy Awford continue to work on their philosophies in training, as they find some time to get their thoughts across to the players after a frenetic period following Michael Appleton’s departure to Blackpool.
They then embark on a busy run of games heading into the new year, with Pompey playing eight League One games before 2012 is out.
Whittingham knows all the squad he has at his disposal will have to be utilised.
He said: ‘We are going to need all of our squad, the full 20. Christmas is a busy period.’
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