The sight of Gavin Bazunu walking out onto the field at Fratton Park will have put a lot of Portsmouth fans' minds at ease ahead of Monday night’s League 1 clash with Charlton.
Kicking off during the last few hours of the January transfer window, the Pompey faithful could take it as a sign that the Ireland goalkeeper would be seeing out his loan deal until the end of the season, at least.
Despite assurances from manager Danny Cowley that Bazunu could only be recalled by parent club Manchester City as a result of availability issues, rumours of Middlesbrough looking to swoop in for the former Shamrock Rovers stopper persisted over the weekend.
On top of that, Portsmouth also brought a new keeper – Northern Ireland Under-21 international Ollie Webber – in from Crystal Palace last week.
The Sky Sports cameras were regular visitors at the lively and atmospheric arena on the English south coast during the Harry Redknapp years throughout the noughties, and the Premier League winter break offered an opportunity to return to Portsmouth for some Monday Night Football, albeit of the League One variety.
Republic of Ireland fans will, no doubt, have tuned in in their droves to catch their main man in live action, having been starved of any televised Bazunu action since the last of the international games in 2021.
That November double-header resulted in a brace of clean sheets for Bazunu who further cemented his place as the national team’s number one, which included a fine performance in the scoreless draw with Portugal.
There has, however, been plenty of media coverage of Ireland’s goalkeeping situation in the meantime, yet the narrative remained firmly focused on another of the top-class prospects making waves across the Irish Sea.
Caoimhin Kelleher is building a fine reputation at one of the biggest clubs in Europe and the more games that the Cork native plays for Jurgen Klopp’s side, the more it become apparent that Liverpool know that they have a real gem on their hands.
And it is no surprise that Kelleher was another who would be staying in situ as the January window slammed shut on Monday night, with the promise of a Wembley Cup final a well-timed incentive from the Anfield club to keep the young prospect happy to play second fiddle to Alisson Becker until the summer.
Kelleher’s ability to slot seamlessly into the Liverpool side, despite spending weeks at a time idle, is perhaps his greatest quality, however, Irish football fans really want to see him get a run of first-team football to see how good he really can be.
Truth be told, Kelleher is playing with a lot more quality in front of him than will be the case at international level, and with all due respect to the current Irish side, a stint at a challenging Championship side or perhaps struggling Premier League side would be a truer test when it comes to suitability to really challenge Bazunu for the number one shirt.
The announcement of the double-header in March against Belgium – the FAI centenary game – and Lithuania allows us to once again ponder international squads and selections, and offers manager Stephen Kenny the chance to make a change in goal for the second game.
But even if Bazunu is rested for that Lithuania game or was unlucky enough to pick up an injury, Kenny would still have a dilemma as to call on Kelleher or hand Mark Travers another shot between the sticks.
As Bazunu impresses in League One, averaging just one goal per game for a mid-table side, and already with 11 clean sheets in this campaign, Travers is ploughing a similar furrow in the Championship, pushing for Premier League promotion with Bournemouth.
Travers was unable to snatch the number one jersey in that away defeat in Serbia, where he conceded three goals and was caught badly out of position for one of the goals, however, he is one of the top performing keepers in the English second tier, and has already amassed 12 clean sheets throughout this season.
As for Bazunu and the not-so high-profile encounter on Sky Sports, as 11th place hosted 15th in England’s third tier, the game reminded us of the calm and composed presence of the talented teenager playing at a level or two below his capabilities.
If anything, the game offered a bit more insight into what Marcus Harness might bring to Stephen Kenny’s side, should the Portsmouth attacker get selected in future squads.
A lively appearance from Pompey’s top scorer this season with his movement and play between midfield and attack offering similarities with Callum Robinson. Ronan Curtis also offered an impressive 20-minute cameo for the home side, setting up the Portsmouth goal.
Twenty days ahead of his twentieth birthday – the palindromic Bazunu (Date of Birth: 20-02-2002) had little to do throughout the opening stages aside from dealing with some standard ball-playing out from the back.
And when the lively Charlton side finally broke the deadline, as their endeavours probably deserved, it came as a result of a blatant offside following a quality save from Bazunu from a point-blank effort. The second time Bazunu was beaten, it was a result of a flying, diving header by one of his own team-mates.
So it will be a case of "Play-up Pompey" for Bazunu until the end of the season, but while this January window has closed, no doubt another will open during the summer for the Ireland number one, and most likely on a higher tier.
