'Pieces and glimpses': Portsmouth man's form admission as he targets returning to his 2024-25 season peak
The Australian international has played just 14 times since suffering injury in February 2025
The Hayden Matthews whose soaring form registered a favourable instant impression among the Fratton faithful has still to reappear.
Nonetheless, the Australian is convinced he’s managed to show ‘pieces and glimpses of quality’ amid a disappointing second season in English football.
Certainly the centre-half’s performances have never quite recovered from ankle ligament damage sustained against QPR in February 2022.
That untimely injury not only aborted Matthews’ season, yet also ended a superb six-game spell in Pompey’s side following a £1.25m arrival from Sydney FC.
In truth, he has still to regain those giddy heights, having featured 14 times this term and also being sidelined by another ankle ligament issue.
But, after starting the Blues’ final two matches, the 21-year-old definitely has grounds for encouragement.
‘A bit of a disappointment’
Matthews told The News: ‘Last season’s injury put me on the back foot for the start of this season. I was injured going into last summer, so, for the majority of the off-season, I was still rehabbing.
‘Coming into pre-season Day 1 was tough because I felt I was a bit behind, I didn’t have the chance to completely smash my fitness as I would have liked.
‘Then obviously the second injury on New Year’s Day really disrupted me after a run of games, it was annoying and I was disappointed to come out for two months.
‘It was a contact injury at Bristol City, I don’t think there’s a whole lot I can do about it. It’s just one of those where you prepare as well as you can, but you can’t stop something like that happening. Then it was difficult to get back into the team.
‘This season for me has been a mixed bag, a bit of a disappointment in the sense of where I left off at the back end of the 2024-25 season.
‘When I first came into Pompey I felt I had a really good impact, I felt I was playing really well prior to my injury - and that derailed things a bit. Obviously I then had high expectations of myself coming into this season.
‘Since then I’ve shown in pieces and glimpses the quality I have and hopefully I can build from there. Touch wood, that’s me done with injuries for a while and I can have a good season next year.’
14 appearances in 2025-26 for Pompey
Matthews re-established himself back in Pompey’s side in December with five successive starts.
However, a substitute appearance at Ashton Gate on New Year’s Day saw him sustain another ankle ligament injury, putting him out of action for two months.
Despite returning to fitness, he found himself omitted from Mousinho’s match-day squad for nine out of 11 matches - until starting the final two fixtures against Stoke and Birmingham.
Indeed, he was involved in the build-up for Adrian Segecic’s goal in the final-day 1-1 draw at Fratton Park, while days later earned a call-up to Australia’s training camp ahead of the 2026 World Cup finals, thereby ending a frustrating season on a positive.
‘I definitely showed glimpses against Birmingham’
He added: ‘It has been a tough couple of months since my injury, so getting back into the team at the back end of the season has been great.
‘I hadn’t played for four months, I felt a bit off, not 100 per cent, just the reading of the game and stuff like that. When you haven’t played 90 minutes of football and you haven’t played 11v11, it's difficult to get that back straight away.
‘I definitely showed glimpses against Birmingham, though, with the goal I was involved in. There were also glimpses of my attributes which make me a good player.
‘Hopefully I can show that more often with more consistency next season.’