Danny Cowley eyeing positive update on Portsmouth recruit still to play after three-and-a-half months

But the Blues are hoping for positive news from specialists this week.

It has been three-and-a-half months since the left-sided player became the first signing of the Cowley era.

However, following an injury issue which emerged during the first week of pre-season training, Vincent hasn’t kicked a ball.

A leg problem ruled him out the entire pre-season fixture schedule – and has continued to sideline him for the League One campaign.

Yet Cowley is hoping for brighter news over the 18-year-old recruited for an undisclosed fee at the start of June.

He told The News: ‘It’s a slow process, the problem is the nature of the injury. He has a bone injury and that takes the longest to heal.

‘It’s the hardest to break, it’s the longest to heal, which is frustrating for him because he is champing at the bit.

‘We’ve got a new players’ room at the training ground now and he can play some darts and table-tennis, which is something for the poor kid because he’s in a frustrating time.

‘He’s allowed to do some weight bearing at the moment, so isn’t a million miles away.

‘We are waiting to see the specialist this week and will know a lot more. Hopefully it’s not too much longer.

‘We have scanned it again and these stress response injuries take time, they are quite hard to gauge. How long is a piece of string? You’re just waiting for it to heal so we can push on.

‘He’s a young boy who has been starved of doing something he loves.

‘When coming here, he had such momentum, Premier League and Championship clubs were also in for him.

‘Success doesn’t always happen in a straight line, sometimes you have to feel the pain for a period of time.

‘Hopefully that will fuel Liam for years to come.’

Pompey had this season planned to loan out Vincent for first-team experience.

It’s a policy evident with Haji Mnoga, who has joined Vincent’s former club Bromley until January, although remains available for the Blues’ Papa John’s Trophy fixtures.

And Cowley confirmed a loan spell continues to be the preferred development pathway for Vincent once he recovers.

Cowley added: ‘When available, the plan remains to loan Liam out. At the back end of last year, we looked at what we had and the club felt they wanted to be more aggressive with our recruitment.

‘There were players we felt were better than those we had in the building.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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