Portsmouth boss' Josh Murphy fitness admission after season-ending injury
Josh Murphy’s season is over after playing with a string of injury issues this term, as well as receiving injections to get through Championship games.
John Mousinho admitted Pompey had to ‘flog’ Josh Murphy ‘to death’ as his season came to close.
And the Blues boss told of his side’s need to find four fit wingers to eradicate the issue of over-relying on their key man.
Mousinho on Murphy: ‘We had to flog him to death a little bit’
Mousinho is reeling from the news Murphy’s season is at a close, as a result of the metatarsal injury picked up at Swansea City in December.
The reigning player of the season’s campaign has been decimated by injury issues, which has restricted the outstanding operator to just 14 appearances.
Murphy was receiving two injections to get through games at the end of last year as he dealt with hip and ankle issues, in addition to the metatarsal problem.
Then a hamstring issue picked up at Derby led to the 30-year-old finally having to sit out games, with the Pride Park outing now his last of the campaign.
Mousinho admitted putting Murphy through the mill is a pattern which continued from last season, with more fit options out wide needed to ensure that doesn’t happen moving forward.
He said: ‘Josh is gutted because he wanted to come back and have an impact.
‘We were looking at having him back for the last six weeks of the season, but it’s not to be.
‘The way that we play and operate with wingers, it was an issue for us at times last season. We didn’t necessarily have that replacement for Murph, so we had to flog him to death a little bit.
‘He’d play 90 minutes virtually every game and we didn’t really have the option to make that change.
‘It was a little bit the same when he came back this season and he had to play 90 minutes against Wrexham and 90 minutes against Hull.
‘We want to try to operate with four fit wingers - and we’ve not been able to do that.’
Millenic Alli will now be required to patrol the left flank for the remainder of the campaign, after impressing since arriving from Luton Town last month.
Mousinho believes Alli continues a pattern of Pompey players stepping up, as key squad members are sidelined.
He added: ‘Milli has done that brilliantly well.
‘If you’d said Murph was going to be out for pretty much the season, you won’t have Langy for most of the season and Shaughs you’re not going to have for the season.
‘Then Colby (Bishop), for whatever reason, Colby has scored two goals in all of the league games, I would’ve felt we were in real trouble.
‘That’s not the case and we’re in an okay position, so that’s a real testament to what the lads have done - particularly over the past eight weeks.’