Stoke City will be caught by surprise at one thing happening at Portsmouth right now | OneFootball

Joe Bursik has stepped into the number one spot at Portsmouth since Niclas Schmid injury

Josef Bursik has seamlessly made the transition into Portsmouth's goalkeeping position since Nicolas Schmid broke his hand in Pompey's derby-day clash away at Southampton.

Portsmouth have begun their second consecutive season back in the Championship since earning promotion from League One in 2024 with three wins, three draws, and three losses from their first nine league games.

Manager John Mousinho will likely be pleased with his side's start, sitting in 14th place, six points ahead of the drop zone in the early stages.

Their biggest game thus far will have been their derby clash away to Southampton, the first meeting between these two sides in six years, where the Saints ran out as 4-0 winners in the League Cup at Fratton Park, and the first league meeting between the pair since 2012.

As it went, the game would end 0-0, in what was an anti-climactic affair where either side had just one shot on target each, but the main talking point of the game for Portsmouth fans would have been the injury to Austrian keeper Schmid.

Schmid's injury in the first half saw him replaced by Ben Killip, who would incidentally start their next match at home to Sheffield Wednesday, losing 2-0.

Killip would be dropped for former Stoke City and Club Brugge keeper Bursik, who joined the club this summer permanently after struggling for game time in Belgium.

Bursik has started life well at Fratton Park, keeping a clean sheet in Pompey's most recent result against Middlesbrough, and looks likely to retain that number one spot until Schmid's return, where he will likely provide fierce competition.

Stoke fans will remember Bursik's time at the Potters, but largely not for the right reasons.

Josef Bursik struggled in goal during his time at Stoke City

Having come through the academy at AFC Wimbledon, Bursik moved north to Stoke in 2017 and would head out on a series of loans, as well as playing for the England youth squads, prior to making his Potters debut.

Loans to Hednesford Town, Telford United, Accrington Stanley and Doncaster Rovers would all come before his debut for Stoke in November 2020, following injuries to both Angus Gunn and Adam Davies.

Bursik kept seven clean sheets in 16 appearances between November 2020 and January 2021, before heading out on two separate emergency loans at the end of that season, first to Peterborough United, who he helped get promoted to the Championship, and then to Lincoln City.

The 25-year-old would start the following campaign as the Potters' number one keeper, but an injury saw Jack Bonham step in, and upon his return found it difficult to nail down a starting berth again.

It was the same story in the 2022/23 season, with Bursik unable to nail down a starting spot consistently enough at the bet365 Stadium, seeing him leave in January 2023 to join compatriot manager Scott Parker at Club Brugge.

Bursik, who made 35 appearances for the England youth squads, never made a senior appearance for Club Brugge during his time in Belgium, and after spending last season on loan with Hibernian, where he lost his place as starting keeper once again, he joined Portsmouth this summer.

Now back in the English second tier, Stoke fans will be surprised to see the return of Bursik, and even more surprised at his current role at Pompey.

Portsmouth halted Middlesbrough's unbeaten start to the season over the weekend, courtesy of a Min-Hyeok Yang goal in the first half, sealing a 1-0 victory for the home side, with Bursik keeping a clean sheet in the process.

This was just his third start for Portsmouth since his return to the Championship, and he will be looking to make that position in the net his own upon Schmid's return in December.

Having struggled for consistent game time for much of the last few years, Bursik has been afforded an opportunity at Fratton Park and looks set to take it with both hands.

With an away trip to Leicester City up next, Bursik will likely be kept busy, but if he can continue impressing manager Mousinho, there's no reason he can't retain that starting berth - something that would be much to the surprise of Stoke fans across the Championship.