Portsmouth handed fitness boost after defender’s injury woes

Pompey have been handed a pre-season fitness fillip over Jordan Williams.

The defender is aiming to put a maiden season heavily impacted by injury behind him in the 2025-26 campaign.

And the defender has given the Blues a boost as he moves towards that target, by joining in with the rest of his team-mates as they returned for pre-season training yesterday.

Williams was hindered by periods on the sidelines last term, including three stints out with a recurring hamstring issue.

Bu the 25-year-old was seen joining John Mousinho’s squad, as they were put through their paces on a day of testing following their summer break.

Williams appeared to be in good spirits as he joined in jogging and was then seen on an exercise bike in video shown on Pompey’s X account, formerly Twitter.

That bodes well for the man who arrived at PO4 from Barnsley last summer, as the club’s first summer signing ahead of their Championship return.

Williams was beset by spells out, with three significant stints as a result of the frustrating hamstring problem he’s battled.

He was forced off in the disappointing defeat at Cardiff last October after a heavy tackle, before returning and then going down with a hamstring problem against Plymouth on November 5.

That kept him sidelined until the new year, where his season and form started accelerating, as he delivered a man-of-the-match performance against Stoke on January 22.

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Williams was then devastated by a hamstring injury recurrence after coming on as a sub in the 5-1 thrashing at West Brom, which then kept him out for the ensuing 10 matches at a key moment in the campaign.

Williams then managed five more games before his season was curtailed and he left the pitch as a disconsolate figure in the Championship survival win over Watford.

The former Huddersfield man arrived with a strong fitness record last summer, starting 45 of Barnsley’s 46 league games in the 2023-24 campaign.

Pompey boss Mousinho has made it clear the club are determined to get to the bottom of Williams’ fitness issues, as he he vies to get back to the kind of availability he had when arriving at PO4.

Speaking to The News at the start of June, Mousinho said: ‘There’s a combination of things we can do. There are going to be some obvious things we can potentially change, but I will leave that to the medical department and Jordan himself.

‘Overall, from my point of view, all we want to do is have him available for those 46 games, that’s the most important thing. That’s the big priority for Jordan, number one is to come back, be fit and be ready to play 46 games.

‘It’s not something we are going to brush under the carpet. With any player, if there is a repeat injury we want to make sure we get on top of it. But there's not a huge amount for me to get involved in, I pretty much leave it to the experts.

‘I’ve had my own injury problems over the years, I can offer a little advice there, but beyond that that's just anecdotal. Others are looking into it, trying to find out the answers.

‘Jordan has done really well when he has played - and he will be back for pre-season.’

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