Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley provides refreshing injury update over ex-Manchester United and Birmingham youngster as comeback looms

The midfielder sustained a hamstring issue in a freak accident in pre-season training, which has seen him absent for all of the new campaign to date.

That incident became the latest injury concern for the 21-year-old after a ruptured knee ligament saw him remain on the treatment table for the entirety of last term.

This has seen Danny Cowley err on the side of caution to limit the chances of Reid sustaining his third injury in more than 12-months at Fratton Park.

However, the Blues boss revealed the ex-Birmingham man is finally closing in on a return as he finally looks to put his troubles behind him.

He told The News: ‘He’s been in training, it’s just we’ve taken quite a cautious approach because of the amount of time he’s had off.

‘We’re hopeful that he will be back with the group sooner rather than later. He’s training but he’s not back fully training with the group yet but he’s training on the grass and making good progress.

‘It’ll be about trying to get him a period on the grass with the group and training regularly with them.

‘Once we’ve got a good four weeks into his legs of consistent training - we’ve got to remember it’s been over a year since he’s been able to play, I know that he came back in pre-season but that’s where he picked up the unfortunate hamstring injury.

‘We’ll look to get another four weeks with him on the grass and then we’ll make a decision after that.

Reid impressed during pre-season for Pompey, where he featured four times before picking up the hamstring injury.

With a return on the horizon, Cowey is keeping an open-mind on whether he will remain with the Blues or be sent out on loan to continue his development.

‘I think it’s for us to be open-minded at this stage.’ He followed.

‘We’re still in that position where we’re still trying to get him fit and until we feel he is in the right place to be able to train regularly and in the right place to perform then we won’t make any final decisions with him.’