Former Portsmouth target set for Fratton absence after significant Middlesbrough blow

Former Pompey target George Edmundson has dealt Middlesbrough a major blow on the eve of their Championship contest at Fratton Park.

The central defender, who has featured three times for Boro this season, pulled up 10 minutes into their goalless draw with Stoke City on Tuesday with a hamstring issue.

The 28-year-old’s name will no doubt be familiar to the Fratton faithful, having been previously been the centre of a reported £600,000 bid from Kenny Jackett in 2019 as well as interest during Danny Cowley’s tenure.

His name once again re-emerged in December 2023 as well as in August 2024 under John Mousinho, who was looking to strengthen his backline.

Edmundson would instead go on to make a loan move to the Riverside Stadium before the close of the summer window and went on to seal a permanent switch from Ipswich Town in January 2025 for a fee in the region of £600,000.

Former Pompey target to miss Fratton trip with injury

However, the centre-back is now expected to miss the trip to PO4 on Saturday afternoon, with Rob Edwards confirming the defender will be sidelined for six weeks with the issue.

The Boro boss told The Northern Echo: ‘George is the one that misses out, unfortunately, after coming off early the other night.

‘It is a hamstring injury, and it looks like it could be around five or six weeks, unfortunately for him. We got that news today.’

Middlesbrough are one of the Championship’s fast starters and top the standings heading into the latest round fixtures.

Boro are one of just two sides who remain undefeated after the first eight games of the season and make their second trip to the south coast in a week after their journey to Southampton seven-days ago.

While Pompey haven’t had the strongest of starts themselves and are without a win in their last four league matches, Edwards hasn’t played the challenge which lies ahead of his table-topping side at Fratton on Saturday.

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Rob Edwards on Pompey and John Mousinho

And the head coach has also made it clear he is a huge fan of Mousinho and the work the Blues boss has done at PO4.

‘They’re a really challenging team to play against, especially at home. Their fans are a really good set of fans, they’re boisterous and they make that place quite intimidating at times.

‘We’ve got to be ready for that. We don’t want to give them any oxygen to go out and enjoy it. We’ve got to make sure we play our game and do it well.

‘John’s a really good coach. He’s won a league title, they’re batting above their average, they’ve got some really good players and they play them well. They’re a really difficult team to play against.

‘We respect them and it’ll be another big challenge for us away from home, but it’s one we’re looking forward to. We’ve prepared well and we’ve got a good plan, and we’ve got a good group of players who are motivated to go and keep this run going.’

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