THOMMO RETURN A HUGE RELIEF TO POMPEY
WESTLEIGH Park may not be the perfect setting to make your Portsmouth debut, but defender Nathan Thompson insists he is just relieved to back on the pitch again.
The centre-back joined the League One newcomers from Swindon Town this summer, bringing an end to his ten-year association with the club – which heralded 157 appearances.
But injuries have restricted the 26-year-old so far and he was made to wait until Wednesday night’s under-23 Premier League Cup match with Southend at Havant & Waterlooville’s ground to finally wear the colours of his new club.
He helped Portsmouth keep a clean sheet in a 1-0 win, and is now ready to step it up in the coming weeks and gradually move into first-team contention.
“I’m feeling surprisingly good because it had been a little while since I’d stepped out onto the pitch,” he said. “Your body gets tested in games in a way that it won’t in training, so it was a relief to be out there again.
“When you pick up a few injuries on the bounce it can play on your mind, so it’s been a tough couple of months for me mentally.
“It’s been extremely frustrating and when you move to a new club it’s all about first impressions. But credit to the medical staff here who have got me back as quickly as possible and now it’s just about getting more minutes.”
Life back in League One has been up and down for Pompey with a heavy defeat to Oxford and draw at home to Walsall following an opening-day win against Rochdale from their first three games.
Yet Thompson insists he has yet to see any team that is markedly better than Portsmouth this year.
He added: “It’s been a relatively good start for our boys and I think we can safely say that there’s nobody to be fearful of.”