Portsmouth boss' frank Thomas Waddingham admission as he rules out Stoke selection
The Australian has three goals in 16 appearances since arriving from A-League side Brisbane Roar
In-form Thomas Waddingham is not yet ready for Pompey’s starting XI.
That’s the verdict of John Mousinho, despite the 21-year-old’s exciting return of two goals in four games from the bench since returning from his latest injury lay-off.
With Marko Milovanovic set to miss Saturday’s visit of Stoke with the quad injury sustained in the second half of the Swansea victory, Waddingham and Tyrese Shade are the Blues’ centre-forward options.
Certainly it has been a glorious comeback for Waddingham, who has now netted in successive Fratton Park matches, most recently the 98th-minute strike in the 3-1 triumph over the Swans.
Yet despite Mousinho’s admiration for the Australian, he remains wary of throwing in a striker whose Pompey career has been devastated by injury since his January 2025 arrival.
‘I don’t think so for Saturday’
The head coach told The News: ‘I’m not sure if Wadds is ready to start, probably not this weekend. I think the international break will do him good, having another solid block of training, so maybe after that. I don’t think so for Saturday.
‘He’s not quite as big as our other centre-forwards, but he’s still physical. Wadds is about 6ft and can put himself about and the third goal on Tuesday night showed that, where he’s got the wrong side of Ben Cabango - if you are Swansea - and demonstrated that strength.
‘They are traits we’ve seen quite a few times, but that’s one area of Wadds’ game I want to really improve upon.
‘That physicality and making sure he gives defenders a really tough time, holding the ball up with his back to play, because we know he’s very, very good technically and very good around the box. If you can improve his all-round game then you’ve got half a chance.
‘I think the others have been pretty good over the years. Colby has a huge amount of goals doing very similar things, Marko can definitely do that, Tyrese as well, but Wadds did it and is the one with the goal, so fair play to him.’
Waddingham now has three goals in 16 appearances since arriving from A-League side Brisbane Roar.
However, the last of his two starts was 15 months ago - in a Carabao Cup defeat to League One Reading in August 2025.
Injuries have been the chief culprit in denying Waddingham plenty more first-team outings, yet goal-scoring cameos against Millwall and Swansea have provided a tantalising reminder of his potential.
‘He has hardly played for the football club’
Mousinho added: ‘Wadds has hardly played for the football club, he’s been here for nearly two years and had two starts, the game against Coventry and the Carabao Cup game against Reading.
‘That’s been really frustrating for Tom and really frustrating for us, particularly as we got him back into a really good spot this pre-season. For all of the muscular injuries he’s had, he then succumbed to an ankle injury at West Ham which was from contact.
‘He just has to make sure he stays fit. We've got him in a half-decent position at the moment, he’s got to keep his head down and keep working.’