The 'terrific' £1.2m man who needs Portsmouth patience - and a huge dose of long-overdue good luck

With eight months having lapsed since his previous Championship start, it hardly represented the glorious return Hayden Matthews had no doubt plotted.

Last season, ankle ligament damage cruelly forced him out of John Mousinho’s side. This time around it has been a rejuvenated Regan Poole and new recruit Josh Knight.

Yet, for the first time since February, the 21-year-old was named in a Pompey league starting XI when Stoke visited Fratton Park on Saturday.

He left the action in the 71st minute suffering from cramp and the agony of having scored an own goal which awarded victory to the high-flying opponents.

In a tight context, it was a decisive moment and inevitably overshadowed a solid comeback for the Australian, having been surprisingly preferred to Knight in the centre of defence.

There had previously been three outings from the bench this season, plus a start in August’s Carabao Cup defeat to League One Reading, yet the Potters represented a cherished chance to seize the first-team spot which was once his.

Bright start to Portsmouth career

Indeed, Matthews had featured in six successive Championship matches during the second half of last season and instantly impressed with his composure and comfort on the ball following a £1.2m January arrival from Sydney FC.

He was enjoying consecutive starts, partnering Rob Atkinson in the centre of defence, against Oxford United and then QPR, before an untimely end to the season.

It was a heart-breaking sight seeing the pain-stricken youngster helped off the pitch by two members of Pompey’s medical team at the final whistle, having damaged his right ankle late on, but remained on the pitch regardless.

Outstanding commitment from Matthews, who hobbled around up front as Mousinho’s men secured a huge 2-1 victory to lift them into 17th spot and further away from relegation danger.

Unfortunately for the defender, having ruptured ligaments which required an operation to repair, he never played for Pompey again in 2024-25, missing the remaining 12 matches as they secured their Championship status with two weeks to spare.

Surprise return to Portsmouth side

Only last week, ahead of the Stoke clash, Mousinho praised Matthews’ encouragingly immediate impact in English football after leaving the A-League.

‘I thought he was terrific, the adaptation from the A-League was really good and surprised us,’ the Blues head coach told The News.

‘He came into that Millwall game shortly after arriving here and competed. We brought him out after that, but, when he did come back into the side, it was very difficult to see him losing his place - which was through injury.

‘He’d had a really good start to his Pompey career, picked up that injury against QPR and since then is probably still feeling the effects of being out for so long and missing a large chunk of football.

‘He’s still good, there’s no rush with him, he’s had that injury, but plenty of patience is needed with Hayden. He’ll want to play and he’s hungry to get going.’

Days later, Matthews surprisingly lined-up for the Blues next to Regan Poole, starting alongside each other in defence for the first time in their Pompey careers.

Ring rusty

The Australian international was entitled to be somewhat ring rusty considering his lengthy absence, reflected by cramp issues with some 20 minutes of the match remaining.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to continue after his attempted clearing header from Sorba Thomas’ left-wing cross found his own net in a moment of wretched bad luck. That proved to be his last touch of the game.

Pompey head to Birmingham on Saturday, a club with big ambitions yet positioned just three places and two points ahead of Mousinho’s men with boss Chris Davies coming under a little criticism of late.

It remains to be seen whether Matthews continues in the centre of defence at St Andrew’s or whether former Peterborough man Knight is restored following his Stoke omission.

Yet, having patiently waited eight months for an opportunity, it would be harsh for that to be ended after 71 minutes of a forgettable comeback.

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