‘Hit me like a truck’: £1.2m Portsmouth man opens up on Fratton Park struggles - as exciting fitness promise made
Hayden Matthews has registered eight appearances for Pompey this season.
Hayden Matthews has opened up on his fitness struggles during the first half of the season.
And the central defender has made an exciting prediction as he looks to cement a place in John Mousinho’s side after gutsy displays against Blackburn Rovers and Derby County.
After arriving at Fratton Park in January, the 21-year-old became an instant fan favourite on the south coast after impressing in his opening six matches.
But an ankle injury forced a premature end to the 2024-25 campaign, with Matthews not returning to action until pre-season.
But it’s been a frustrating four months of the season for the Aussie talent, who has been in-and-out of Mousinho’s 20-man squad during the opening 21 matches to date.
After three successive outings against Coventry, Stoke and Birmingham, the centre-back dropped out of the starting XI once again before making an impressive return against Swansea City at the start of December.
And after a tough start to the campaign, the popular Aussie has opened up on his continuous fitness battle as he bids to cement his spot in Mousinho’s side.
£1.2m Pompey man opens up on fitness struggles
He said: ‘It’s always my calves, it’s always my calves. It’s been good to get consistent minutes. I feel like I’m at that point where my body feels able to continue to build and play 90 minutes each and every week.
‘It's going to be a tough period coming up now so I’m going to have to look after my body really well but very happy to get through the whole 90 minutes today.
‘It’s a strange one. The start of my season was quite rocky, not really getting minutes here and then gone away with the national team, a lot of travel, a lot of everything, different scenarios and things going on which led to a lack of minutes.
‘I think my first game (of the season), the Stoke one, I started to cramp up around the 65th minute, which is way too early in the game to be cramping but that’s just a lack of match minutes.
‘I feel like now my body has gotten through a full 90 now and a lot of games. It was my first double gameweek last week and cramped up at the very end but my body feels good now.
‘As a footballer you want to be playing, right? But coming back to pre-season, I didn’t have a lot of an off-season. I started running on the last day of the season so the whole of the off season was about building my fitness up to come back to pre-season fit enough and then pre-season came it hit me like a truck.
‘I was just getting through sessions, didn’t really have any issues with my ankle but it was just fitness wise I was just hanging in there.
‘To now be back in the side is exactly where I want to be.’
Pompey’s man’s ‘big improvement’
Matthews has amassed eight outings in the Championship for the Blues this term, but failed to appear in any of the opening eight league matches.
The defender admitted the time out of the squad has helped him strive for improvement, which is now being showcased with his impressive run in the side.
‘It’s been very character building without being in the side and being around the boys because you want the team to be doing well, right?
‘Always for me it’s about supporting the boys and making sure I’m doing the right things.
‘I’ve been working hard with the coaching staff doing extras, doing everything I can to improve on certain areas of my game that I needed working on and the coaching staff felt needed working on.
‘I’ve seen a big improvement in that, being more dominant in the air, attacking the ball better, being composed and just show what I can do on the ball.
‘Confidence hasn’t really been an issue for me. Playing consistent minutes you start to get a feel for the game with everything going on.’
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