Portsmouth handed timely striker boost with forgotten man poised to complete long-awaited injury return
Thomas Waddingham has amassed five appearances in all competitions for Pompey this season.
Thomas Waddingham is nearing his long-awaited return to action.
It’s been a frustrating campaign on the south coast for the Aussie, who has missed five months of action due to injury.
The striker has been limited to just five appearances in all competitions for the Blues this term after sustaining a quad issue in training prior to September’s south-coast derby against Southampton.
The blow represented the latest set-back of his Fratton Park career, which saw him suffer groin and hamstring problems during the second-half of last season following his arrival in January 2025.
But having missed five months of action, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel for the 20-year-old.
Waddingham has been pencilled in to return against Sheffield United next week and ease John Mousinho’s injury problems in attack.
Striker to hand Pompey injury boost
That is set to change next week, with the Aussie talent set to complete his long-awaited comeback for the Blades’ visit on February 14.
When discussing his current forward options, Mousino said: ‘Colby was coming into the best form of his season, before he got injured. He’s not been scoring, but has been very, very difficult to play against.
‘So his injury was a blow, but behind that we’ve got Makenzie and Tom Waddingham - and Tom should be back for the Sheffield United game.
‘So we’re slightly more optimistic about that with Tom being back, we have three centre-forwards available in that department.
‘Milli can play up there as well, so we have a bit of flexibility and different options.’
Pompey’s massively-rated striker option
Waddingham arrived at Fratton Park in January 2025, with three separate injury issues limiting him to just 10 outings to date.
The striker has netted just one goal in that time, which came on debut in the 5-1 defeat to West Brom last season.
The head coach told The News at the time: ‘We brought him in in January last year, probably to give him 4-5 months to develop, but he developed quicker than we thought he would and he came and affected the first-team.
‘He got his first start away at Coventry, had it not been for the injury he would have played a bit more towards the back end of last season. Tom put himself ahead of some good centre-forwards we had in the building at the time.
‘There were the likes of Mark O’Mahony and Kusini Yengi, we obviously had Christian (Saydee) around too. Tom put himself ahead of them and gave us a real headache in terms of selection.
‘We have really missed him, particularly off the back of the pre-season performances. He is a massively-rated youngster, he’s just got to try to stay fit.
‘I think you can manage Tom at the start of his injury comeback, but eventually we’ve got to go all-in with him. He’s got to play games, he’s got to try to build up to 90 minutes.
‘There's only so much risk you can mitigate, ultimately, you’ve got to trust in the rehab and trust in what he has been doing with himself over the past 3-4 months.’