Jack Whatmough delivers verdict on his fitness after knee injury that will delight Portsmouth fans

The fans’ favourite suffered his most recent setback in February 2019, which sidelined him for the best part of 12 months.

It restricted him to just two appearances last season, while he didn’t return to training ahead Pompey’s failed League One play-off campaign.

Whatmough opted to stay at home amid the Covid-19 pandemic to protect his partner while she was pregnant with their first child.

However, the centre-back’s been a regular starter for Kenny Jackett’s side this season – and arguably the Blues’ best performer.

In total, he’s scored one goal in 13 appearances.

And while sections of supporters will likely continue to fear the possibility of him breaking down again, Whatmough insists his knee is in good shape.

He said: ‘The knee feels really good. I have got a really good programme going with the fitness coaches who are managing my training and my games.

‘Everything seems to be working at the moment. We will stick to that and hopefully it will stay fine.

‘I feel good. I've said before that the lockdown helped me a bit from a selfish point of view.

‘I stayed at home before the play-offs for my family. It gave myself an opportunity to get myself as strong as I possibly could be to come back in.

‘When I first came back in, my fitness maybe wasn't there but I knew the strength was. That's what pre-season is for, to get fit and I was ready to push on.’

Whatmough came back from a hamstring complaint in Monday’s 2-2 draw with Plymouth.

In total, he missed three matches before replacing Rasmus Nicolaisen at half-time at Home Park.

The Gosport defender was always confident he wouldn’t be absent for a lengthy period.

He added: ‘We didn't have a scan. With Covid, it was tough to get the scan done.

‘I rested for a week and got the scan done on the Friday. It came back similar to when I did it a couple of years ago. It was just a bit of chronic scar tissue and a bit of damage on the nerve.

‘It felt fine but had the scan to make sure but it was something we knew how to deal with as it's similar I suffered before. Once we got the green light, we could go from there.’