'Not great news' - Portsmouth dealt huge Callum Lang injury blow as Blues learn full extent of injury picked up against Oxford United

The Blues’ top scorer this season was withdrawn on 67 minutes at the Kassam Stadium after pulling up with a hamstring injury.

Pompey boss John Mousinho didn’t know the true extent of the problem during his post-match interviews. But four days on from victory in Oxfordshire, a clearer picture has emerged of how long the Liverpudlian will be out for.

Indeed, speaking to The News ahead of Saturday’s home game against QPR, Mousinho has revealed the forward will now likely miss the rest of the season.

The development will come as a huge blow to Pompey, who currently sit seven points above the relegation in 18th following back-to-back wins against the U’s and Cardiff City. The Blues have 13 games left to play this term.

Revealing the latest, Mousinho said: ‘Not great news on Callum. The scan has come back, as we suspected, with a hamstring tear.

‘We're going to re-scan it in about 10 days just to see how it's settled down. There's a lot of fluid there at the moment. Most likely, we're not going to see Callum in a Portsmouth shirt until next season.

‘It’s a bit of a strange one because after the game, he was okay. He was up and about. He's still actually up and about now. It's not really affecting him a huge amount, but just the nature of it and the location of the injury means it's going to be a long one.’

Mousinho, who last week learnt that Conor Shaughnessy will miss 6-8 weeks with a similar injury added: ‘Greg Leigh (Oxford defender) did the same thing in the first half on Saturday. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's a very, very similar injury.

‘We can't really blame anyone – but there’s reason to apportion some of it to the fact that it was such a stop-start game with all the stoppages and players going in and out.

‘When that happens, you do get the muscular injuries, particularly with where the pitches are at the moment. So, both sides have picked up a very, very similar injury.

‘I wasn't happy with it at the time because hamstring injuries can be like that, but after the game, I was a bit more positive than I was on Shocks (Shaughnessy’s) one because of how the players were moving.’

Lang, who moved to the Blues from Wigan in January 2024, was a leading contender to be named Pompey’s player of the season. His quick-fire start to the season at Leeds, where he scored twice in a 3-3 draw - along with 10 goals in total from 29 league games played - made him an obvious contender.

The 26-year-old now joins Ibane Bowat, Paddy Lane and Jacob Farrell in being ruled out for the remainder of the Championship campaign. In his absence, the Blues will need to rely on the attacking talents of Matt Ritchie, Josh Murphy, Adil Aouchiche - who will be Lang’s likely replacement in the No10 role - Christian Saydee, Kaide Gordon and Harvey Blair.

Colby Bishop, Mark O’Mahony, Thomas Waddingham and the returning Kusini Yengi are Mousinho’s current options to lead the line.

For your next Pompey read: Why Portsmouth boss showed faith in Arsenal graduate with QPR call to make