Portsmouth boss John Mousinho calms injury fears over defender following latest worry
The right-back has made 29 appearances so far during an injury-hampered stay at Fratton Park
John Moushino has allayed injury fears over a recurrence of Jordan Williams’ hamstring agony.
The right-back had re-established himself back in the Blues’ side of late, starting three successive Championship games this month.
However, he was absent from Mousinho’s squad for the Tuesday night defeat to Coventry, later explained by the head coach as down to a tight hamstring.
Williams’ Pompey career has so far been dogged by hamstring problems, last season restricting him to just 22 appearances having arrived from Barnsley on a free transfer in June 2024.
Irrespective of the 26-year-old missing the 2-1 loss to the Championship leaders, though, Mousinho insists the decision to omit the defender was purely precautionary.
Portsmouth boss: We have to be cautious
The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘Jordan is okay. It was a really tight hamstring on Sunday which eased up a little on Monday, but just not quite enough to select him in the starting XI against Coventry.
‘We decided to give Jordan a rest and hopefully he will be okay at the weekend. We definitely have to be careful, we did it last year where he played a couple of games against Middlesbrough and Stoke and then came off the bench against West Brom and injured himself.
‘That meant he was out for a lot of the back end of the season, so we have to be cautious.’
Williams underwent platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment in the summer in a bid to finally resolve a hamstring issue which had sidelined him on three separate occasions in his maiden Fratton Park campaign.
He subsequently featured in six of Pompey’s pre-season friendlies and started the opening match of the campaign at Oxford United.
However, Zak Swanson was preferred following defeat to Norwich in August and subsequently started the next five Championship matches, including an impressive showing against Southampton.
Pompey’s right-back position continues to be fiercely contested between Williams, Swanson and Terry Devlin - and Mousinho opted to bring Williams back at the start of this month against Watford.
‘One of the bright sparks in the first half’
Now the door has been opened to Swanson once again, who earned the nod ahead of Devlin to line up against Coventry on Tuesday evening.
The Arsenal Academy graduate featured until the 64th minute, before being replaced by Devlin at right-back, yet Pompey went on to lose 2-1.
They next welcome Stoke to Fratton Park on Saturday (12.30pm), with the Potters now sixth in the Championship following a midweek 2-0 loss at Millwall.
It remains to be seen whether Williams will be available, yet Mousinho was impressed with Swanson’s Coventry contribution in his first start in four matches.
He added: ‘I thought Zak was one of the bright sparks in the first half up against a very, very good winger in Ephron Mason-Clark.
‘Then we wanted to bring Terry (Devlin) on to give us a little more energy.’