Portsmouth defender Josh Knight a 'positive' on long-awaited Reading debut - but manager far from happy

Josh Knight’s wait for his Reading debut is finally over.

The on-loan Pompey defender made his maiden appearance for the League One Royals in their EFL Trophy defeat at the hands of Chelsea under-21s on Tuesday.

The centre-back was forced to sit tight for nearly seven weeks as he waited to be called upon by manager Leam Richardson following his temporary move away from Fratton Park on August 28.

However, he was finally handed his chance to impress after being named in Reading’s starting line-up for the Southern Group C encounter at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

The 29-year-old was one of 11 changes made by Richardson following his side’s 5-1 demolition of MK Dons on Saturday, a result that saw the Royals move into the League One play-off places.

Along with Jacob Brown, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Pompey from Luton, the defender was also one of nine ‘senior’ pros called upon to start against Chelsea’s youngsters.

Despite Knight’s hesitancy to clear the danger for Chizaram Ezenwata’s first goal in the visitors’ 2-0 win, Richardson said his involvement was one of the ‘positives’ he could take from the fixture.

The centre-back played 77 minutes in what was his first competitive start since Pompey’s 1-0 defeat against Bristol City in November 2025.

Yet, that was as far as Richardson went in terms of handing out compliments, with the former Fratton Park assistant manager believing the side he picked fell below the standards needed to win the game.

‘We started okay but the mistake leading up to the first goal changed the game,’ said Richardson.

‘We huffed and puffed to get any kind of momentum but physically, Chelsea were very good. You can see that they had a lot of technically good players, their Academy is elite, but physically they stood up to the test as well.

‘We were nowhere near our levels. The senior players’ levels weren’t where we need or demand them to be.

‘It is a mindset, an application and a professionalism. We prepared correctly to win the game and there was no reason why we didn’t. We lost too many duels and didn’t get up to the ball quickly enough. We were second in a lot of things all night and ultimately deserved the loss.’

Reading are next in action on Saturday when they travel to bottom-of-the-table Wigan.

It remains to be seen if Knight will be involved, having been left out of eight match-day squads prior to Tuesday’s game against Chelsea under-21s.

The centre-back, who cost the Blues around £1m from Hannover 96 in the summer of 2025, is under contract at Fratton Park until 2028.

Pompey are currently struggling with numbers in the centre of their defence following injuries to Benjy Arthur and Conor Shaughnessy.

Regan Poole and Jojo Dia will likely start against Sheffield United tonight at PO4.

For your next Pompey read: Portsmouth boss responds to defensive concerns as questions persist over centre-back options