Talented Marcus Harness relishing reigniting outstanding pre-injury Portsmouth form

Marcus Harness is gunning to reignite his scintillating early Pompey form after roaring back to duty.
Marcus Harness made a welcome return to Pompey action against Bolton following five games out. Picture: Joe PeplerMarcus Harness made a welcome return to Pompey action against Bolton following five games out. Picture: Joe Pepler
Marcus Harness made a welcome return to Pompey action against Bolton following five games out. Picture: Joe Pepler

A thigh injury at Blackpool abruptly halted the impressive winger's encouraging impact since a summer switch from Burton.

Sidelined for five matches, he made his much-anticipated return to the side as a half-time substitute against Bolton on Saturday.

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Harness picked up where he left off in August, with a bright display to light up another lacklustre Blues showing as they laboured to a 1-0 victory.

And the 23-year-old is banking on not having lost his spark during that enforced lay-off.

He said: ‘Hopefully I can now carry that form on from before I had the injury.

‘When it happened, I felt the front of my thigh go tight and, with the international break coming up and the Southend game, went in the next morning to see how it was and the pain had gone, so we didn't think it was bad.

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‘Then I went for a scan and it was a bit worse than we thought!

‘It took a few weeks of resting and recovering, while I’ve been training for a week now, so hopefully nothing more comes of it and I can stay fit for the rest of the season.

‘I’ve managed to settle in well, everyone was been really welcoming and football doesn't really change much. Wherever you are it’s kind of the same, systems change slightly but it’s usually the same thing.

‘Thankfully I adapted to it quite quickly and hopefully can continue to play the way I am.

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‘I am not the finished product, I might have bad days or good days, but hopefully can have more good than bad – and it has been all right so far.’

Harness scored three times in his opening seven Pompey appearances before injury struck.

It was an outstanding initial burst which created an instant impression among the Fratton faithful.

Now entering October, Harness is widely regarded as the best of Jackett’s eight signings last summer, joining for an undisclosed fee from Burton.

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Paul Downing was omitted from the squad against Bolton, while Sean Raggett was handed only a second League One outing.

Yet, with Pompey currently lying 19th in the table, Harness is convinced that when his fellow newcomers settle, the team’s fortunes will change.

He added: ‘We’re just trying to do the right thing and are still gelling, there are quite a few new faces so I’m sure it will start to strengthen and our season will change.

‘Getting promoted is the aim, it has always been the aim. The start we’ve had is not ideal, but we can still definitely achieve that.’