Exclusive:'It's a risk': Portsmouth boss' Thomas Waddingham admission amid concerns over latest absence
The highly-regarded striker has made 12 appearances and scored once since joining the Blues in January 2025
John Mousinho reassured the Fratton faithful over fresh Thomas Waddingham concerns and insisted: There’s nothing to worry about.
Burdened by a wretched Pompey injury record during his 18 months in England, the striker has been a notable absence from the last two friendlies.
Since scoring the winner in the opening friendly at Woking, the Australian hasn’t been named in squads at Aldershot and Bristol Rovers.
Having totalled just 12 appearances since his January 2025 arrival from the A-League, Waddingham’s non-inclusion has inevitably raised concerns among Blues followers.
However, according to Mousinho, it’s nothing serious - with the talented 22-year-old potentially featuring in Saturday’s trip to Wycombe (4pm).
‘We’ve just got to be very careful with him’
Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘We are handling Wadds at the minute, he’s feeling a couple of bits that we’re just not going to risk. Nothing too serious, but again we’ve just got to be very careful with him.
‘He came into the building in January 2025 and we are here in July 2026 and his availability has been extremely low. We have to manage that and make sure that, whenever there is something small, we just pull back a bit and make sure we manage him.
‘What we don’t want to do is turn any of the aches and pains he’s had off the back of Woking into something major.
‘It’s nothing to worry about - and hopefully we’ll see him next week at Wycombe.’
Missed seven months of the 2025-26 season through injury
Waddingham featured in the opening five matches of the 2025-26 season, only to tear his thigh in training in September.
He would subsequently be sidelined for seven months, before returning to first-team duty in April and featuring in the final two matches of the Championship season as the Blues finished 18th.
Certainly his goal-scoring entrance just 10 minutes after coming off the bench in the first pre-season friendly at non-league Woking was a welcome sight.
Mousinho afterwards spoke of how Waddingham was part of his first-team plans and wouldn’t be loaned out, unlike striking rival Makenzie Kirk, who has since joined Barnsley for the entirety of the 2026-27 campaign.
The former Brisbane Roar youngster remains highly-rated at Fratton Park, while he finished as leading scorer last summer with four goals during pre-season.
As ever with Waddingham, the key is managing his body to ensure there are no further injury set-backs.
‘You have to get the balance right’
Mousinho added: ‘There's always a mix, you have to get the balance right between not being too light on players, if that makes sense.
‘You have to push players into a place where their bodies are actually ready for competition, so there’s no point in being unbelievably light on the way we train and the way we rehab before then trying to push someone into a first-team game.
‘The action on Saturday was pretty intense, so you have to get that balance right. At the moment, we are being careful with Wadds.’