Portsmouth boss' disappointment after 'freak accident' deals yet another blow to unlucky ex-Manchester United, Birmingham and Swansea man

The winger damaged his hamstring in last week’s friendly at Bristol City after colliding with Tim Klose during an aerial challenge.

Although entirely accidental, the nature of the incident left the Blues fearing the worst.

Having seen a specialist, Reid is now expected to be out of action for at least six weeks, thereby sidelining him for the opening month of the campaign.

Encouragingly, the hamstring problem is not on the left leg which sustained cruciate knee ligament damage in July 2021.

Yet it represents another blow to Reid, who had impressed Cowley during pre-season following his return from that long-term injury.

Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘Unfortunately it sums the boy’s luck up, he doesn't deserve it.

‘He has worked so hard and got himself into such a good place – and we really feel for him.

‘Ryan Tunnicliffe did the same last season, he got his heel caught in the grass, the same muscle. They are the first two injuries like that in my career.

‘We work them really hard in pre-season, so you’ll get soft-tissue injuries, but not like these ones, this is out of the range.

‘It’s just a freak incident where Jayden ended up hyperextending the hamstring, it’s the semitendinosus which he has torn, which is unique.

‘They had previously taken the graft from that muscle to repair the cruciate, basically that’s because it’s a muscle which doesn’t do too much.

‘It’s the safest muscle to take the graft from – but this is just a freak accident.’

Reid, who missed the whole of last term through injury, had featured in every pre-season fixture until the set-back.

With the Blues seeking to protect Marcus Harness ahead of his proposed move to Ipswich, Reid was instead named in the starting XI at the Robins High Performance Centre.

Then, shortly before half-time, he sustained the problem, being replaced at the interval by Alfie Bridgman during the goalless draw.

Pompey took up their club option on the former Manchester United and Birmingham City player in May, keeping him at Fratton Park until the summer of 2023.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can support our local team of expert Pompey writers by subscribing here for all the latest news from Fratton Park for 9p a day, thanks to our 30%-off transfer window deal