‘We want to stop’: Portsmouth chief sets out clear plan to break 'vicious' injury cycle
Pompey finished eight points clear of the Championship relegation zone in 18th.
Rich Hughes has confirmed Pompey will ‘spend a lot of time’ during the close season assessing their medical department to avoid being ‘blighted’ by injuries once again.
And the sporting director has stressed he wants to stop the ‘vicious cycle’ players rushing back to elude further set-backs.
John Mousinho’s troops were heavily impacted by the absence of key personnel during the campaign on their way to securing an 18th-placed finish.
Pompey’s worrying injury record
The likes of Josh Murphy, Conor Shaughnessy, Josh Knight, Thomas Waddingham, Harvey Blair, Keshi Anderson, Franco Umeh, Aji Alese and more all missed extended periods due to respective injury issues.
It was an injury list which prompted the head coach to rate his worst in management back in January, with the Blues missing as many as 10 players ahead of their triumph over West Brom.
And as reviews of the season begin behind the scenes at Fratton Park, Hughes has made it clear Pompey will look to limit the number of injuries and break their ‘vicious cycle’ from next term.
Pompey chief delivers clear injury plan
‘Injuries have blighted us,’ the sporting director told the Tony Goodall Fans’ Conference.
‘We’ve found ourselves on the rough end of significant injuries to significant players. Losing Josh Murphy has hurt us – he’s a standout player for us.
‘We’ve spoken at length about this and made lots of assessments.
‘One of the things that’s interesting to make people aware of is the vicious cycle.
‘When you have more injuries, you become more reliant on the remaining players, which leads to more injuries, and so you feel forced to rush players back, which leads to more injuries.
‘We want to stop that cycle that we’ve repeated for the last two years.
‘There are some injuries where we do take responsibility, there are others we have no control over.
‘We will spend a lot of time during the off-season looking at how we can impact change and let players perform for as many games as they can.
‘Previously, we had lots of League One players. Athletically, they’re not as strong. Now, we’re dealing with lots of explosive movement athletes.’