Thomas Waddingham was only on the pitch eight minutes at the London Stadium

Thomas Waddingham has handed Pompey a fresh attacking injury blow.

The Aussie striker has been forced to withdraw for the Blues’ Carabao Cup tie against West Ham just minutes after his second-half introduction as a substitute.

The 21-year-old replaced Luke Brooke-Smith on 52 minutes at the London Stadium, but was forced off on the hour mark following a challenge down the Blues’ right wing.

Waddingham left the field of his own accord but was clearly suffering from a leg injury.

His appearance was only his 13th for Pompey since his move to Fratton Park from Brisbane Roar in January 2025.

His time at PO4 has been hampered by injury, with the forward forced to sit out eight months of last season with a thigh problem.

His place in the Blues team was taken up by summer signing Marko Milovanovic as he made his debut for Pompey following his multi-million pound move from UD Almeria last month.

The true extent of Waddingham’s injury is not known at this time.

However, he joins a long list of Pompey forwards on the injury list.

Josh Murphy, Keshi Anderson, Harvey Blair and Franco Umeh weren’t in head coach John Mousinho’s match-day squad for the trip to east London.