'Frustrated and angry': Portsmouth boss on forgotten man's potential Sheffield Wednesday comeback after two games in 14 months
The left-back has featured twice since joining from Central Coast Mariners in July 2024
John Mousinho admits Jacob Farrell has been ‘frustrated and angry’ over his ongoing Pompey omission.
But he’s adamant the Australian is now ready to step up for a first league appearance in 12 months should Connor Ogilvie be ruled out against Sheffield Wednesday.
With Ogilvie regarded as 50/50 having sustained a neck injury at Southampton, Farrell or Jordan Williams will potentially deputise at left-back on Saturday.
For the ex-Central Coast Mariners defender, it finally offers a chink of light in his long-running battle to break into Mousinho’s first-team.
Farrell has featured just twice for Pompey since joining in July 2024, a lack of game time primarily influenced by last season’s persistent knee injury.
Despite now being fit, he has failed to make a Championship squad this season - and Mousinho has revealed the 22-year-old is understandably frustrated with the situation.
Portsmouth boss: ‘It has taken him time to get back into the swing of things’
He told The News: ‘Jacob has been very good over the last couple of weeks. It took him a bit of time to get back into the swing of things in pre-season bearing in mind he’d been out for pretty much the entirety of last season.
‘He played one game and was injured in and around that, he was injured a huge amount with a recurring injury. So he hasn’t played a minute of league football since then and it has just taken a bit of time to get back into the swing of things.
‘It’s a very tough thing to do, but Jacob is coming back into it now and is looking good. He has been fit for everything and been as good as I want him to be.
‘I don’t want him to be happy, I want him to be frustrated and I want him to be angry about not being part of the starting XI and not being part of the squad.
‘I want that to manifest itself as hard work in training and really getting back into the form we know he can get into. He has been frustrated, if he wasn’t I’d be really disappointed.’
One Championship appearance in 14 months
Farrell’s sole Championship outing since joining Pompey 14 months ago arrived against Sheffield United in September 2024.
However, that was sandwiched in between a persistent knee ligament issue which eventually required surgery and ruled him out of the campaign.
The youngster returned to pre-season training in June and was a constant on the training pitch and during the friendly schedule, demonstrating he is thankfully now over those injury woes.
Yet Ogilvie’s form continues to be a barrier and Farrell has just one Carabao Cup outing this season, while hasn’t been named in a single Championship squad.
‘We have seen glimpses’
Mousinho added: ‘We have seen Jacob’s ability in glimpses, he brings loads of energy up and down that left flank.
‘He brings out real enthusiasm in terms of the way he defends and what he gives you by sheer energy, pace and by the fact he has all that endeavour going forward well.
‘We want to make sure that, in possession, he really works on that aspect of his game, making sure he is nice and tidy, making sure he can see those pictures early enough. All round, he’s a very competent left-back.’
Your Next Pompey Read: Pompey counting the cost of another injury blow following Thomas Waddingham set-back