Portsmouth boss reveals extent of Callum Lang role for Sheffield United and Bristol City after Millwall Championship return
Callum Lang shone on his injury return for Pompey - here’s the picture over the key man building his Championship minutes.
John Mousinho insisted Callum Lang isn’t ready to start yet after his impressive Championship comeback.
And John Mousinho stated Pompey will still need to protect the star man against himself, after his shining on his full throttle return.
Pompey boss reveals Lang position over building minutes
Lang put more than three months of injury pain behind him with an impressive return off the bench against Millwall on Saturday.
The 27-year-old was introduced in the 63nd minute, with Joe Bryan dismissed for the visitors five minutes later after taking out the dynamo on the halfway line.
Lang then should’ve hit the back of the net with clear chances, as he added another dimension to Pompey attacking play with his energy.
It was a display which showed the Wigan arrival is ready to make his mark after hamstring surgery, but Mousinho doesn’t feel he’s ready to do that from the outset moving forward.
The Pompey boss explained that is something his side toyed with on Saturday, but he doesn’t feel that’s the case ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Sheffield United and next weekend’s clash with Bristol City at PO4.
Mousinho said: ‘Langy gives us energy, he gives us a huge amount of energy.
‘We were toying with starting him, but it was too far. Segs (Segecic) has only been out for three or four weeks all together and he had an ankle injury, compared to Lang’s hamstring injury.
‘But it was good for Langy to come on and have that positive influence, as we knew he would.
‘I’ll check with the medical side, but probably not yet (ready to start). He’s had a serious hamstring injury so we’ve got to be careful with him.
Mousinho on Lang starting: Probably not yet
‘He can’t put the handbrake on, it’s just impossible with him. He’d give me a different answer, he’d say he was ready to start against Millwall. That’s the thing with Langy we just need to protect him from himself a bit.’
While Lang wasn’t ready so start against Millwall, Adrian Segecic was deemed okay to appear from the off after a month out with an ankle injury. The Aussie got a lively hour under his belt before making way for Lang, with Nico Schmid back after two months on the sidelines with a hand fracture.
Franco Umeh and Harvey Blair (both hamstring) are building their way back to fitness with Conor Shaughnessy (hamstring), Thomas Waddingham (quad), Jacob Farrell (groin) and Connor Ogilvie (knee) all in the treatment room still.