'It's a frustrating one' - Portsmouth suffer fresh winger setback ahead of key games against West Ham, QPR and Lincoln

John Mousinho has provided an injury update on Josh Murphy - and it’s not good news.

The winger is still about three weeks away from returning to full training, which guarantees the 31-year-old will miss the opening weeks of the new season.

Next week’s Carabao Cup trip to West Ham had long been circled in the diary as a potential return date for Pompey’s 2024-25 player of the year as he continues his recovery from a groin operation he had in April.

It came as no real surprise, therefore, that the 31-year-old was not part of the Blues’ travelling party for their final pre-season game of the summer against SV Darmstadt 98 on Saturday.

But what will surprise many is the new timeframe in place for the forward’s expected return.

Having played just two games since December following a foot injury, the forward isn’t expected to resume full training until near the end of August.

That rules him out of the game against West Ham, plus the Championship fixtures against QPR (August 15) and Lincoln (August 22).

There’s also a possibility that Pompey’s trip to Bristol City on August 29 could come too soon, as could their home game against Derby on September 1.

Explaining where Pompey are at with the winger, Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent: ‘Yeah, it’s just sort of ongoing minor niggles with Josh.

‘We're still probably about three weeks away from seeing him back in full training, so it’s a frustrating one.

‘I feel like I'm forever kicking the can down the road with him, but there's very little I can do with that one at the minute, just wait for him to sort of get back to full fitness.’

Murphy was restricted to just 16 games in all competitions this season.

However, he still finished the season with seven assists, which was more than any other player in Mousinho’s ranks last term.

That underlines his importance to the team as the Blues head into their third successive season in the Championship.

Young summer signings Luke Brooke-Smith and Eoin Kenny played down the left flank for Pompey in their goalless draw with Darmstadt on Saturday.

Mousinho admitted in his post-match interviews that that was far from ideal with the new season just around the corner.

But with fellow wingers Kesh Anderson and Franco Umeh joining Murphy on the sidelines, and Harvey Blair struggling for form, he has no other choice at the moment.

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