Portsmouth boss' frank message to latest signing as £1.2m defender in contention to face Millwall
Hayden Matthews has been tasked with hitting the ground running at Pompey.
Head coach John Mousinho has challenged the Blues’ fourth new arrival of the January transfer window to make his Fratton Park presence felt immediately and affect the first team as soon as possible.
There’s a possibility Matthews could be thrown straight into the deep end and included in the Pompey squad for Tuesday night’s Championship fixture against Millwall - just 36 hours after completing his £1.2m move from Sydney FC.
That depends if the Fratton Park outfit receive international clearance in time to include the centre-back in their plans for the rearranged game against Alex Neill’s side
If there is an unexpected delay in his availability, the message to the 20-year-old remains loud and clear, though - you’re here to impact the team straight away.
When asked by The News whether the defender would be available to face Millwall, Mousinho said: ‘Subject to international clearance, yeah, he’ll be involved tomorrow night.’
The head coach then followed that up by stating there were immediate expectations of the Australian international’s young shoulders.
Mousinho added: ‘I see Hayden as someone who needs to compete for a spot in the first team very quickly.
‘I think so (he’s ready to play), that’s why we brought him over. There’s plenty of parts to his game we’d like to improve - I think we need to make sure that he’s up to scratch on the pace of the game. That’s something I thought with Tommy (Waddingham), we maybe thought it would take a bit longer, but he came on and fitted in really quickly (against West Brom).
‘But we expect Hayden to get up to speed really quickly and affect the team this season.’
Competition for places
Matthews’ arrival aligns with fellow centre-back Conor Shaughnessy’s potential return to first-team duties after five months out with calf issues.
Mousinho said the influential Irishman could also be included in his plans for the visit of Millwall after adopting a careful approach for the weekend defeat at West Brom.
‘Conor should be available for the squad tomorrow night. I’ll take a view of that (being included in the squad) later on this afternoon. I was slightly cautious with that over the weekend, so I think we’re probably ready to push on with it now that he’s had an extra couple of days. There’s no reason why he can’t be involved.’
The Blues sit 21st in the Championship table heading into tomorrow night’s game with 16th-placed Millwall. The Lions beat Luton 1-0 at Kenilworth Road on Saturday to register only their second away win in the Championship this season.
Pompey are unbeaten in their past seven games at Fratton Park, winning six.