'I know he's good enough': John Mousinho's emphatic message about goal-scorer's Portsmouth future
The Australian has one goal in 12 appearances for the Blues since his January 2025 arrival
John Mousinho toasted Thomas Waddingham’s eye-catching start to pre-season and insisted: He’s going nowhere.
The Blues must reduce their squad this summer, particularly following the arrival of Rocco Shien, while the signings of Marko Milovanovic and Luke Brooke-Smith are also close.
Makenzie Kirk is in the process of sealing a season-long loan at Barnsley, while Ibane Bowat and Jacob Farrell have also been made available for moves.
In the case of Waddingham, however, Mousinho is adamant the 21-year-old remains part of his plans and will be challenging for a first-team spot.
And after scoring the winner against Woking on Tuesday night, Pompey’s boss is desperate for the striker to finally put his 19-month injury woes behind him.
‘He has to stay fit and compete for that starting spot’
Mousinho told The News: ‘He scores goals pre-season, there are plenty of parts to his game he needs to make sure he brushes up on.
‘We’re working hard with Tom to make sure he becomes that centre-forward we can really rely on. He’s a very, very good finisher, extremely good in front of goal, as we have seen.
‘The other thing to note with Tom is that, while he came back towards the back end of the season last year, Woking was the first time he’s got 45 minutes under his belt for a long, long time.
‘We will keep him around the squad this season, he has to stay fit and compete for that starting spot. I know he’s good enough, he just needs to stay fit.
‘There was a reason we brought him into the football club, there was a reason why he came on for his debut so soon after becoming a Pompey player and scored that goal at The Hawthorns.
‘Last pre-season he was in a good run of form, he was coming on in games and close to really affecting things, but unfortunately picked up another big injury in September. It’s all about making sure Tom stays fit, because we know he can affect the game.
‘There are so many aspects to that, there's a real balance because we have to push him physically as well. We can’t have him in a place where he’s comfortable because that probably leaves him a bit more exposed to picking up injuries.
‘There’s a huge amount of work he needs to do personally with the SSC and the medical team. There’s a lot of factors which go into making sure he keeps himself fit.’
A 55th-minute winner against Woking
Colby Bishop handed Pompey a 28th-minute lead at Woking, converting John Swift’s clever pass from close range.
However, the hosts’ Harrison Sohna levelled nine minutes later with a shot from the edge of the penalty area as the match entered the break at 1-1.
With Pompey having already pre-planned the introduction of 11 substitutes, Waddingham came on at the interval along with newcomers Eoin Kenny and Odin Bailey.
And the Australian grabbed the winner just 10 minutes into the second half to the delight of the 272 Blues followers among the 1,012 crowd at the Kingfield Stadium.
‘Some good bits and some bits we really need to improve upon’
Mousinho added: ‘I thought it was a decent-enough run out for the first game of pre-season, it was the first time the lads have got any football in their legs in a competitive fixture.
‘It was a friendly but you could see out there it was competitive enough with both sides wanting to compete and win the game.
‘There were some positive aspects from that standpoint. The first thing you look for in these games is to make sure we come away injury-free - which I think we have done - and the second part is the performance, which was okay in patches.
‘We had some good bits and some bits which we really need to improve upon - and we also got the result.’
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