Luckless Regan Poole frustrations continue after Portsmouth boss John Mousinho's injury update

The popular defender hasn’t trained since a hamstring injury forced him off at half-time against Norwich on December 10.

According to John Mousinho, the Wales international is still ‘a couple of weeks’ away from coming back to the training pitch, with a calf problem now impacting his return.

The ongoing issues are all related to surgery on the ACL injury sustained to Poole’s left knee at Chesterfield in November 2023, rather than any fresh injury concerns.

Nonetheless, it remains a frustrating period for the ex-Manchester United man, who is out of contract at Fratton Park in the summer.

John Mousinho told The News: ‘Regan’s not quite there yet, he is still a couple of weeks away from getting back on the training ground, so is a bit behind.

‘The hamstring has niggled and stayed there for a bit longer than we thought and he felt his calf a bit on that side as well.

‘It’s all a consequence of the knee surgery he’s had, these things definitely happen when you’ve had knee surgery and everything else. He’s knocked out of balance.

‘The ACL is stronger than it has ever been, but you have a hamstring graft on that side, it affects the calf, it affects the hip, all these sorts of things.

‘There are just a few things we need to get right with Regan before he’s back in full training in a couple of weeks.

‘It’s mostly a continuation of the issues and things not quite clearing up as quickly as we would have hoped. It’s more a consequence of the fact Regan was out for so long.’

Poole returned to action at Burnley in September following almost 11 months out - marking the occasion with a man-of-the-match display.

He subsequently started 13 consecutive Championship matches in the centre of defence in the long-term absences of Ibane Bowat and Conor Shaughnessy.

However, he has now missed the Blues’ last 10 matches - and it is currently uncertain when he’ll return.

Mousinho added: ‘He hasn’t come back into training since being injured against Norwich

‘It’s another one of those where we’ve had centre-backs that have been out for a while, we need to keep on top of them and Regan is one of them. We have to be careful with him because of the nature of the injury.’