Portsmouth boss provides latest over Conor Shaughnessy after ‘very strange’ injury
Conor Shaughnessy was withdrawn five minutes into last Saturday’s defeat to Sheffield Wednesday with a hamstring injury.
John Mousinho believes Conor Shaughnessy’s hamstring issue occurred in ‘very strange circumstances’ as he faces a spell on the sidelines.
And the head coach has provided an update over the popular central defender after sustaining a new blow.
During the opening stages of the second half in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday, the 29-year-old pulled up while chasing down a routine ball in the Blues’ half.
That sparked major concerns, with Shaughnessy needing assistance when being withdrawn just five minutes after the break.
Mousinho went on to reveal after the game that the League One title winner had suffered a torn hamstring, representing his third significant setback since the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
The centre-back missed five months of action at the start of last term due to a calf issue before sustaining a hamstring problem just six games into his return, ruling him out for a further two months.
And with another significant spell on the sidelines now expected for Shaughnessy, Mousinho admitted his injury occurred in extremely strange circumstances.
John Mousinho on ‘very strange’ Conor Shaughnessy injury
He told The News: ‘He’s not happy. Obviously, he worked really hard to get back into a really good spot.
‘He started the first six games of the season and it looked like he had no issue from the previous issues with his calf and his hamstring.
‘Unfortunately in very strange circumstances five minutes after half-time, it wasn’t like it was late into the game, it’s not as if we had a midweek game before that.
‘Very, very strange when we actually break it down. Obviously with no one around him he’s gone down and torn his hamstring.
‘He’s really disappointed as we expected him to be and the whole club are going to miss his services.’
Pompey still in dark over Conor Shaughnessy timeframe
Shaughnessy had established himself as a regular in Mousinho’s backline, reigniting his formidable partnership with Regan Poole at the heart of defence.
Pompey do have plenty of options at centre-back, with both Josh Knight and Hayden Matthews coming off the bench against Sheffield Wednesday.
‘Yeah, we don't know the extent of that yet. We're waiting to see a specialist off the back of Shocks (Shaughnessy) having a scan.
‘ It's not going to be a short-term fix, so yeah, we're just waiting to see sort of how severe it is and see how long Shocks will be out for off the back of that. So yeah, we're all waiting for that.’
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