Portsmouth face up to grim reality over £1m signing with former Leicester City and Peterborough United man’s season on brink
It’s been a nightmare maiden season at Fratton Park for the Hannover 96 arrival, with Pompey prepared for the worst news over his campaign.
John Mousinho admitted Josh Knight’s Pompey season could be over.
But the Blues boss isn’t giving up hope the £1m arrival could still make a late-campaign return to Championship availability.
Pompey boss: ‘Possibility’ Josh Knight’s season is over
Knight is one of the long line of Fratton injuries, with the defender sidelined since the end of November with a back issue.
The problem was first believed to be bone bruising, but a stress fracture was later identified with the former Leicester City and Peterborough United unable to do any fitness work as he recovers.
The nature of Knight’s injury means his build-up to returning will likely mirror the period he’s been rested for, with a best-case comeback date at present early April.
That could see the 28-year-old back for the final ‘four or five’ games, though Mousinho is realistic over Knight not be seeing any further first-team action this season.
Mousinho said: ‘There’s a possibility of that (his season is over), but we’re seeing if we can get him back with four or five games to play.
‘It’s pretty generic rule of thumb, but you work off a 1:4 ratio of how long you’ve been out for.
‘If you’ve been out for four weeks you probably need at least a week to build back up, but with Josh he’s been completely off his feet for eight weeks - that’s the difference between this and most other injuries.
‘The other injuries, with return to play, once they’re back and training they’ve probably already been on the training pitch for a couple of weeks and been in the gym active for a couple of weeks. Josh hasn’t had that.
‘It’s been a complete deactivation for him, which means it will probably match up 1:1 with the build-up to return to play.
‘But there may be four or five games at the back end of the season if his recovery is accelerated, plus we have the Ipswich game to work out.’
Knight will need to ‘come back ready to compete’ next season
Knight’s back issue is the latest significant chapter in what has been a difficult maiden season at Fratton Park, after his arrival from German outfit Hannover 96 last August.
There was an expectation the 6ft 3in man would be a front-line operator for Mousinho’s side, but he’s been restricted to 10 starts amid a total of 14 outings.
If it’s bad news for Knight, the Pompey boss stressed his focus then has to switch to be ready to vie for playing time with his team-mates in pre-season.
Mousinho added: ‘Whatever happens this season, we just need to make sure he’s back and he’s fit. That’s whether it’s the back end of this season, or the start of the next one.
‘It’s the same with every player. If you’ve played however many games or been out the whole season, the end of the season provides a natural reset where the players have to come back ready to play and ready to compete.’