'Ultimately my body couldn't cope': Ex-Norwich and Swindon man Louis Thompson on his Portsmouth transformation

At the age of 26, the injury-plagued midfielder accepted Pompey’s pledge to rebuild his faltering career.

Thompson was directed to Ross Poynton, a doctor in physiotherapy and close friend of Danny Cowley, who set about fine-tuning and tweaking a body he couldn’t trust.

The encouraging outcome has been five appearances in the Blues’ last six fixtures, including completing a first 90 minutes since August 2018.

Steadily the former Norwich man is easing his way into Pompey’s first-team, accruing precious game time and registering rising performance levels.

Thompson told The News: ‘Previously my training load was very strength-based. When you’ve been on the journey I have, you must embrace change.

‘In the past I have always been a powerful athlete, I thought if I could build on that then I would keep making gains, but I don’t think it was working for me at the time.

‘As I’ve got older it’s maybe time to scale back on that and focus on my flexibility, harnessing what I have got rather than building it.

‘It has been a change, a positive change, I’ve been fit from the moment I’ve been here. Granted, I haven’t played as much football, but I’m training every day, feeling good in the games and building up those minutes.

‘I’ve just got to build that robustness, keep pushing myself forward, keep listening to my body, and then, hopefully, will be on the right track.’

Thompson made 14 appearances in seven years at Norwich before his summer departure.

Clearly it’s a disappointing return devastated by injury amid loan spells at Swindon, Shrewsbury and MK Dons.

He added: ‘At Norwich I spent a lot of time out on loan and, when you aren’t at the forefront of things, it’s hard to build a schedule around something like that.

‘I need a lot of tailoring, a lot of managing, and ultimately my body couldn't cope with what I’ve had in the past. I’ve also rushed a few injuries which have caused me a few set-backs.

‘I don’t think I would label any blame on any club, there’s just been a change in mentality.

‘I worked with Norwich for many, many years and they have wonderful staff. They put a lot of programmes in place for me and they all worked, it got me back fit and playing, but I would break down further down the line.

‘If I had the crystal ball and could see what was doing it then I’d have had it nipped in the bud a long time ago, but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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