Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho has provided an update on the fitness of Chelsea youngster Tino Anjorin as the 22-year-old nears his return from a long-term injury suffered back in November.
The midfielder moved to Fratton Park during the summer transfer window and went on to make nine appearances in all competitions with Pompey, scoring two goals. However, Anjorin last featured for Portsmouth during a dismal 1-0 defeat over Chesterfield in the FA Cup three months ago.
The Cobham academy product endured a serious hamstring injury which has kept him out of Mousinho’s squad ever since. Nevertheless, prior to the January window, the manager revealed that he didn’t believe Chelsea would look to recall Anjorin from his loan spell even though he was sidelined.
Despite having played more games than any team below them in League One, Portsmouth have remained top of England’s third tier, having accumulated 63 points in 31 matches thus far.
Regardless, performances and results have been quite inconsistent in recent weeks, but Mousinho has now revealed that his side’s title hopes have been boosted by the return of Anjorin who will return to training in two weeks.
Speaking to The News, the 37-year-old said:
“Tino was at the Northampton game and the prognosis is two more weeks until he’s back in training.
“There will be a bit of time until he’s back and match-fit – and when that happens it will be a real boost for us.
“It’s going to be similar to what we saw when he came in at the start of the season, just stepping him up slowly. Although it didn’t take a huge amount of time to get Tino up to speed to affect the bench and be able to come on and actually play,” he continued.
“We have to manage it carefully, he has come off the back of a serious injury, but there will definitely be a part for him to play this season. It will be great to have him back.”
Writer’s View
Anjorin was an important squad player for Portsmouth prior to his devastating injury which has kept him out for a large portion of the campaign. However, at risk of sounding cliched, the young midfielder will be like a new signing for Mousinho.
The Chelsea loanee will provide quality to the middle of the park ahead of what will be a gruelling end to the title race and this level of depth may even be the difference between Pompey finally returning to the Championship or spending at least another year languishing in the third division.
Be the first to comment