Fresh blow to luckless Portsmouth newcomer and ex-Fulham man after heartbreaking John Mousinho injury update

It was initially hoped the Fulham recruit would be back within six months after tearing his patellar tendon on the training ground.

However, after the defender underwent surgery on his knee at a London hospital, John Mousinho has provided a fresh injury update - and he now doesn’t expect Bowat to play in 2024-25.

It’s a brutal blow to the highly-regarded 22-year-old, who has still to make his Pompey debut following a deadline day arrival from the Premier League.

And fans eager to catch a glimpse of his talents must now wait until next season following that freak training ground injury.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Ibane’s okay, the surgery went well, but he’s in a brace and is not moving particularly fluently at the moment.

‘He’s still on crutches, but in good spirits, and returned to us last week following a week off. He was also at the game on Saturday.

‘We are not looking at Ibane playing again this season. If he comes back any earlier we will be thrilled, but there is no pressure for this season because of the severity of the injury. Tearing a patellar tendon is severe.

‘He’s obviously frustrated, whenever you get injured it's not the best thing in the world, yet this was just after signing for a new club and happened in such an innocuous way.’

Bowat tore his knee while shooting in a small-sided match during training, with nobody else involved.

Yet Mousinho has dismissed suggestions the defender has a history of injury problems, pointing to previous loan spells.

Bowat totalled 50 matches over two seasons while on loan in Holland (Den Bosch) and Austria (TSV Hartberg), with 34 outings last term.

Mousinho added: ‘Ibane hasn’t got an injury history, quite the opposite. For such a young lad, he’s played quite a lot of games.

‘He had two loans where he went out and played full seasons on the continent and hasn’t really had any injuries. There’s no injury record there.

‘Unfortunately it’s one of those things, there is no history of injury with that patellar tendon either.’