Portsmouth favourite makes injury promise after early-season blow in emotional message to Fratton faithful
Pompey are set to be without Callum Lang for at least 4-8 weeks after suffering an early-season injury blow.
Callum Lang has penned an emotional message to the Fratton faithful after suffering an early-season injury blow.
John Mousinho admitted the forward’s injury isn’t as bad as first feared but is set to miss a sizeable chunk in the opening weeks of the new Championship campaign.
The worst case scenario could see Lang absent until mid-October, ruling him out for at least seven of Pompey’s upcoming games - including September's south-coast derby against Southampton.
It represents the latest blow for the former Wigan man, who missed two months of action last term during the Blues’ survival bid.
Although the January 2024 arrival completed his comeback before the end of the season, he came through pre-season unscathed before sustaining a new hamstring problem in the second game of the campaign.
But Lang has promised to put his ‘hamstring right’ in an emotional message to the Fratton faithful following his setback.
In a post on his Instagram story, he said: ‘Not how I wanted to start the season, really frustrating but it’s time to get this hamstring right and get back out there as soon as poss.’
Callum Lang’s 2024-25 injury woes
His latest blow represents his second spell on the sidelines this year after picking up a similar hamstring issue in February against Oxford United.
That saw the forward miss a crucial part of the Blues’ run-in, which saw them secure their Championship status.
Although Mousinho’s men survived their first season back in the second tier, it put Lang’s impressive campaign on hold having netted 10 goals prior to his setback.
The versatile forward completed his comeback in April and featured in Pompey’s final two games of the campaign.
What John Mousinho said after Callum Lang’s injury blow
But with his latest injury coming so soon after his previous setback, Mousinho is adamant his new issue isn’t as bad as first feared.
Speaking to The News ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Brom, the head coach said: ‘He's okay. Callum will be probably, at the optimistic end, about four to six weeks (out), at the pessimistic end, about six to eight weeks - so anywhere in between, I suppose, four to eight.
‘We're just waiting on a second opinion from another specialist, just to confirm what we think about the scan.
‘To be honest, it's not the end of the world in terms of bad news. When he first did the hamstring, or when he first picked up the injury, we thought he might be a bit worse because he was about three months on the sidelines last season, and we thought it was very, very similar.
‘So it's the same mechanism, it's not the same injury. It's still a bit of a blow, but it's better than we thought it would be.’