2 Portsmouth FC players who are surely eyeing a 2025 Fratton Park escape route | OneFootball

FLW looks at a Pompey duo that may seek an exit in the January window

Portsmouth are aiming to consolidate in the Championship this season in their first second-tier campaign in 12 years.

John Mousinho's side won League One at a canter last season, as the club clinched a return to the second-tier for the first time since 2012, but life back in the Championship has not been plain-sailing so far.

Pompey had a busy summer in preparation for the second-tier as they carried out a ruthless culling of their title heroes, with the likes of Joe Rafferty, Sean Raggett and Lee Evans allowed to leave upon the expiry of their contracts, and 14 new signings arriving on the south coast including Josh Murphy, Matt Ritchie and Elias Sorensen.

They have now submitted their 25-man squad list to the EFL for the season ahead, with some notable omissions that have surprised fans, and with that said, we have picked out two players that will likely be looking for a January move away from Fratton Park.

Tom Lowery

Central midfielder Tom Lowery has found himself at a crossroads in his career in the last few months, but has remained a Portsmouth player past the transfer window and into the new season, to the surprise of many.

He was a graduate of Crewe Alexandra's youth academy, and made his professional debut for the Railwaymen as a 19-year-old in October 2016, before going on to become an integral part of their senior side over the next few years.

Lowery helped Crewe win promotion to League One in 2019/20, then remained at the Mornflake Stadium for another two seasons in the third-tier before he joined Portsmouth on a three-year contract in the summer of 2022.

It has not been an ideal spell at Fratton Park for Lowery so far, as an injury-hampered two years limited him to just 21 appearances and 13 starts in his debut season, then his influence lessened even further in 2023/24 as he was only able to feature nine times in Pompey's promotion campaign.

As a result of his lack of game-time, and numerous players being ahead of him in the midfield pecking order, he has been left out of John Mousinho's official squad list for the season ahead, and so is unable to play any competitive games for the senior side and faces an enforced spell on the sidelines despite being fit and ready to play.

It seems like Lowery will have played his last game for Pompey, with his contract up next summer anyway, but he will almost definitely look for an exit in the January window with little chance of minutes in the second-half of the season.

Ben Stevenson

Ben Stevenson shares some unfortunate similarities to Lowery, in that he is an injury-ridden midfielder that has struggled to ever find his place in Mousinho's side since his arrival from a relegated League One club.

Stevenson boasts some valuable EFL pedigree after coming through the ranks at Coventry City to join Wolves in 2017, but he soon moved on again to Colchester United after not making a first-team appearance for the Molineux club.

He spent three seasons as a permanent U's player, then joined Forest Green Rovers and helped them win promotion to the third tier for the first time in their history in 2022, before he signed for Pompey on a two-year deal last summer after Rovers had gone back down to League Two.

He made just 10 appearances for his new club last season amid persistent injury issues, and was surprisingly kept on this summer, but then suffered another setback last week as he also was not included in the 25-man squad list submitted to the EFL, despite appearing in the league against Luton Town and being handed a start in the EFL Cup against Millwall.

Stevenson is still only 27-years-old, so certainly has a lot to give to a club that potentially needs his services, and will surely seek an exit in January either on loan or permanently as it simply has not worked out for him in his spell at Fratton Park.