‘My gut reaction’: Portsmouth boss John Mousinho sounds Josh Murphy warning ahead of Hull City trip
Josh Murphy registered his first start for Pompey in two months against Wrexham on Wednesday evening.
John Mousinho believes Josh Murphy is a doubt to start against Hull City on Saturday.
But the head coach is adamant the winger will be assessed on Friday before a final decision is made.
The 30-year-old made his first league start in almost two months for the Blues on Wednesday evening and was the shining light during the goalless draw against Wrexham.
Murphy played the full 90 minutes against the Red Dragons as Pompey went in search of a much-needed winner, with the forward denied on a number of occasions after the heroics of keeper Arthur Okonkwo.
It represented Murphy’s third outing after returning from an ankle injury, which had previously sidelined him for six matches.
John Mousinho provides Josh Murphy update ahead of Hull
And as the Blues continue to manage his work load, Mousinho has sounded a warning over the 2024-25 Player of the Season ahead of the lunchtime kick-off with Hull on Saturday.
The head coach told The News: ‘I think we’ll find out a little bit more tomorrow (Friday).
‘At the minute and my gut reaction post game is probably not because of the length of time he spent on the pitch.
‘We decided to keep Josh on because we definitely thought he was our most attacking player and the game was there. I don’t know but we’ll take a view on that tomorrow morning.
‘You can tell what a good professional he is coming back and being able to play like that straight away with that intensity, that level detail in his press, the amount of explosiveness in his game.
‘I thought he gave whoever he came up against a real tough time. Josh naturally will always perform like that and give everything for this football club.’
Murphy was one of of seven changes to the side to face Wrexham made by Mousinho after last Saturday’s 4-0 debacle against Birmingham City.
And the 30-year-old rewarded the head coach with an outstanding display on the left flank, causing full-back Issa Kabore nightmares throughout the evening.
Managing the influential Josh Murphy
The impressive showing came off the back of successive appearances from the bench for the ex-Norwich City man, who returned to the fray against Stoke City at the end of last month.
And Mousinho has admitted the Blues have been carefully managing his workload in order to get the star man back to full fitness.
‘Yeah it’s always a factor (managing a player after an injury). We’ve managed him back in I suppose.
‘We had him back in for the Stoke game, he had a full week's worth of training ahead of the Birmingham game as well.
‘It was one of those ones where we have managed him through that anyway so we’ll just see what it looks like tomorrow.’
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