Portsmouth boss' warning over ex-Birmingham and Crystal Palace man after nightmare time at Fratton Park
The winger has scored once in seven appearances since arriving in January on a free transfer
John Mousinho reflected on Keshi Anderson’s long-awaited return and warned: We have to be very, very slow with his comeback.
The former Birmingham man is attempting to kickstart his Fratton Park career once again following a devastating time with injury.
Since the 31-year-old’s January arrival, frustratingly he has been restricted to just seven outings, nonetheless has still shown glimpses of quality, particularly in the crucial 2-2 draw with Oxford United in April.
Following two hamstring injuries last term, Anderson was sidelined early in pre-season by a quad problem, ruling him out of the Blues’ opening eight matches of the 2026-27 campaign.
Now he’s back in training, with October 11 against Southampton a possible return date - although Mousinho is adamant Pompey must be cautious.
‘We’ve had to manage him very, very closely’
He told The News: ‘We will be very, very slow and deliberate with Keshi when we bring him back.
‘He’s now had a decent block of time out since the start of pre-season. We’ve had to manage him very, very closely and make sure we pay a really close attention to what his comeback looks like.
‘We obviously have three weeks from last weekend until the next game, so we’ll use that wisely to try to build him back up.
‘Previously Keshi had hamstring issues, yet this has been a different injury. The quad is also a soft tissue injury, so we have to be very, very careful.
‘It has been frustrating and the biggest frustration with Keshi is the fact that, when he does play, his performance has been very good, even though we haven’t seen a huge amount of him.
‘He was outstanding from the start he made against Oxford United and scored the goal, but unfortunately his contribution was cut short by injury last season and we haven’t seen him yet this year.’
Seven games and one goal since joining from Birmingham
The Blues strengthened their wing options in the summer, adding much-needed competition to an area which has often suffered from shortages due to injury.
Eoin Kenny, Luke Brooke-Smith, Abu Kamara and Ryan Kavuma-McQueen all arrived, joining Anderson, Josh Murphy, Harvey Blair and Franco Umeh as competition.
Certainly Chelsea loanee Kavuma-McQueen has been hugely impressive, although Brooke-Smith is sidelined until the new year after breaking his left ankle on the training pitch earlier this month.
While Blair hasn’t been registered in Pompey’s 25-man Football League squad and, unless added, cannot now represent them until January.
In the meantime, Anderson, Murphy and Umeh are closing in on their injury returns - and Mousinho is clearly relishing having more attacking options.
‘It will be a different proposition’
He added: ‘We are desperate for those options at the top end of the pitch again, even with adding a fair few bodies there.
‘We have taken on Abu, we have taken on Ryan, we have brought in Eoin Kenny and Luke Brooke-Smith. All of a sudden you pick up a couple of injuries in those areas and it doesn't look quite as strong as it could do.
‘That’s particularly at the moment looking at Franco Umeh, Luke, Murph and Keshi all out or not available. Once we get those back, it will be a different proposition.’
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