Popular Portsmouth forward Callum Lang posts surprise picture on social media from hospital bed

Callum Lang has undergone surgery on the hamstring injury he suffered in Pompey’s defeat to Norwich City.

The surprise development has emerged after the popular Fratton Park figure posted a picture of himself from his hospital bed on Tuesday,

The post-operation image was accompanied by a simple message to the Pompey fans which read: ‘Surgery done. Let’s get to work! See ya soon.’

Lang’s Blues team-mates are among those to have posted good luck messages to the forward as he now begins the journey back to full fitness.

Adrian Segecic, Hayden Matthews, Terry Devlin, Jordan Williams, Harvey Blair and Zak Swanson all sent the 26-year-old their best wishes with his recovery, while club captain Marlon Pack - who has also recently undergone surgery following a knee injury - commented: ‘Back in no time son.. let’s go.’

However, it’s unclear at this moment in time whether going under the knife will delay the 4-8 week timeframe head coach John Mousinho identified when he asked about the severity of Lang’s injury in his press conference ahead of last weekend’s trip to West Brom.

Pompey have been contacted for comment.

What we were previously told about Callum Lang injury

Last Wednesday, the Pompey boss said the injury Lang picked up in the second half against the Canaries was not as bad as first feared.

A best-case scenario put forward for the attacking midfielder’s return was 4-6 weeks - which would have potentially seen the former Wigan man return some time after the south coast derby against Southampton on September 14.

Yet, a mid-to-late October comeback could not be ruled out either as Mousinho & Co waited on the opinion of a second specialist.

Mousinho said: ‘He's okay. Callum will probably be, at the optimistic end, about four to six weeks (out), at the pessimistic end, about six to eight weeks - so anywhere in between, I suppose, four to eight.

‘We're just waiting on a second opinion from another specialist, just to confirm what we think about the scan.

‘To be honest, it's not the end of the world in terms of bad news. When he first did the hamstring, or when he first picked up the injury, we thought he might be a bit worse because he was about three months on the sidelines last season, and we thought it was very, very similar.

‘So it's the same mechanism, it's not the same injury. It's still a bit of a blow, but it's better than we thought it would be.’

Mousinho was asked about that second opinion immediately after Saturday’s 1-1 with the Baggies at the Hawthorns. When questioned by BBC Solent if Pompey had learned the findings of the other specialist, he replied: ‘No, not yet. We are waiting until Monday for that scan to be read.’

Callum Lang - an important player for Pompey

While there’s confusion over how long Lang will now be out for, one thing that is certain is that Pompey will miss him.

He’s been a huge hit at Fratton Park since his arrival from Wigan in January 2024, with the Liverpudlian scoring 14 goals in 46 league appearances for the Blues.

Those goals played a huge role in Pompey securing the League One title in 2023-24, while his 10 last season helped the Fratton Park side beat the drop back down to the third tier.

That tally last term saw him finish second in the Blues’ goalscorng charts behinf Colby Bishop - a remarkable feat considering he missed nine weeks of the season between February and April with a hamstring injury.

In in absence against WBA, loanee Florian Bianchini played in the right wing, with Adrian Segecic playing through the middle.

For your next Pompey read: Portsmouth keeper Nicolas Schmid dealt blow that could damage chances of playing in World Cup