Josh Murphy update as Portsmouth boss explains former Cardiff and Norwich winger's absence at Oxford United
Josh Murphy sat out Pompey’s 1-0 win at Oxford United on Saturday. Here’s the reason why...
John Mousinho has reassured the Pompey fans that Josh Murphy’s absence from the Blues’ season-opening win against Oxford United on Saturday is ‘nothing serious at all’.
The Fratton Park head coach revealed the winger - who was named Pompey’s player of the year last season - sat out the Kassam Stadium game with a slight hamstring injury.
Murphy, who scored seven goals and registered 14 assists in the league in 2024-25, picked up the complaint in last weekend’s pre-season victory against PEC Zwolle.
He was ‘touch and go’ for the visit to the U’s, which the Blues returned home from with a 1-0 victory in the bag. However, due to the former Norwich and Cardiff’s man’s explosiveness down the left flank, the decision was taken not to involve him and risk further damage.
Murphy, however, is expected to remain sidelined for another two weeks, with Pompey’s trip to West Brom on August 23 pencilled in for his return.
John Mousinho on why Josh Murphy didn’t play v Oxford United
When news of his absence emerged at 1.45pm on Saturday, social media fears grew of an injury - and even worse, of a move away from Fratton Park.
Yet in his post-match interviews following victory at Oxford, Mousinho admitted it was an injury picked up against last Saturday’s Dutch vistors that forced the player to sit out game day one of the 2025-26 campaign.
When asked why Murphy wasn’t available for face the U’s Mousinho told BBC Solent: ‘Yeah, Murph last week, playing the last pre-season game... We actually brought him off because of it.
‘(He) just picked up a really, really slight hamstring injury. Nothing to worry about. He got himself scanned. It's very, very minor.
‘Touch and go for today, but with someone as explosive as Murph, not worth risking. Maybe see him next week. I'm not sure, but should be fit for West Brom. Nothing serious at all, yeah. ‘
John Mousinho on Colby Bishop’s involvement
While Murphy sat out the trip to the Kassam Stadium, Colby Bishop was unexpectedly handed a starting place and the captain’s armband despite a recent groin injury.
Explaining how the striker ended up in the team, when a 2-3 week recovery period was required, Mousinho added: ‘Colby had been struggling, hence he missed the game last week.
‘It was one of those that, at the start of the week, Colby did say to me: “I'm not missing a game on Saturday, I'm playing”. And that was enough for me. So, yeah, I thought he was immense today. ‘