Former Portsmouth midfielder Joe Morrell makes playing comeback as 'Triallist B' for Reading as 18-month injury nightmare ends
Former Pompey favourite Joe Morrell has made his playing comeback as a triallist for a League One side
Joe Morrell’s 18-month injury nightmare has finally come to an end.
The former Pompey midfielder, who has been out of action since January 2024, has returned to action - courtesy of League One side Reading.
The 28-year-old Wales international travelled with the Royals for their pre-season friendly fixture against Gillingham at Priestfield on Saturday.
He was spotted by some eagle-eyed Reading fans as he watched the first half from the stands, wearing a club-branded t-shirt.
Morrell was then introduced to the action in the second half as ‘Triallist B’ as he made his first playing appearance in public since Pompey’s 2-2 draw with Oxford United on January 30, 2024.
Brought on as a 60th-minute substitute, the former Fratton favourite played the last 30 minutes as Noel Hunt’s side played out a goalless draw against their League Two hosts.
Joe Morrell’s return a welcoming sight
Morrell’s involvement in Kent comes as a welcoming sight, with the former Luton man suffering numerous setbacks after a piece of cartilage broke off his left knee in the Blues’ draw with the U’s at the beginning of 2024.
The problem required surgery, which ruled him out for the rest of Pompey’s 2023-24 League One title-winning season.
The midfielder then aggravated the injury while working on his comeback in the gym last summer, before he suffered arthrofibrosis in January - a condition where scar tissue builds between joints.
That kept the classy operator out for the remainder of last term as well - with his career at Pompey also finished as they couldn’t offer him a contract renewal following the end of their 23-24 season.
Morrell, who featured 105 times for Pompey following his 2021 move from Luton, was invited to remain with the Blues as they oversaw his rehab. Yet it was a long, hard process for the World Cup player.
Speaking to The Guardian last month, the free agent revealed how difficult the past year-and-a-half had been for him.
He said: ‘I care about football so much, it has been unbelievably tough.
‘I had quite a bad disciplinary record – that’s a stick I’ve been beaten with – but I’ve joked to some of the lads this year: “What I’d give now to be sent off, I’d snap your hand off”.
‘Portsmouth lost 6-1 at Stoke (last season) and I’m watching it thinking: “I’d love to be on that pitch now.” It probably shows you how low I’ve been.
‘People tweet you to say you played rubbish: I kind of miss that in a sense. My phone isn’t blowing up. Two-and-a-half years ago I was playing at the World Cup, I’d come in after a match and have 200 messages.’
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