Pompey triallist Nathan Ferguson. Pic: Simon Roe/ProSportsImagesplaceholder image
Pompey triallist Nathan Ferguson. Pic: Simon Roe/ProSportsImages | Simon Roe/ProSportsImages
He last played in 2021 and now the former Premier League man is with Pompey as he looks to the future after injury pain.
Nathan Ferguson’s Fratton future is set to be decided over the next week.
Pompey boss John Mousinho tonight confirmed the former West Brom and Crystal Palace man is set to remain with his senior set-up, as their pre-season programme continues.
Ferguson was given his second outing in quick succession in tonight’s 5-0 win at Farnborough, playing the second half in the middle of defence for the Blues.
That follows on from an outing at Woking last night, where the 24-year-old turned at right-back in the first half of the 2-0 success.
It represents a landmark period for Ferguson coming off the back of an extended period of injury pain, with his last competitive minutes coming on Boxing Day 2021 for Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
The Birmingham-born player has been with Pompey since the end of last season training with the senior set-up and was part of the group who went to Slovakia last week.
Mousinho confirmed the defender will stay with the Blues and play at Crawley this Saturday, with his situation being reviewed over the next week.
He said: ‘In terms of where Nath’s at, we’re still having a look at him and it’s really useful for Nath to be with us from his perspective.
‘So it’s been mutually beneficial in terms of us having at look at Nath and him getting the minutes.
‘It’s the first time he’s played in a long, long time as well and it’s in semi-competitive fixtures.
‘So we’ll keep monitoring that over the next week or so, we’ll play Crawley and then see where things are from there. He’s here for the time being.
‘Regardless of what happens, Nath has had a really good stint training first of all.
‘He was actually with us at the end of last season, so I think overall he’s been training for about six months and fit for a lot longer than that.
‘It’s his first 90 minutes of football over two days he’s got through, so that’s really important for him.
‘Clearly with some of the injuries we have at the moment and the fact Nathan has come in and done well means it’s really good to have a look at him tonight.’
Mousinho reserved praise for his academy youngsters - Fraser Thomas, Chinedu Agi, Beau Mullins and Michael Ani - who stepped up to a tough physical challenge against Farnborough and impressed.
He added: ‘It was a very different to Woking in terms of the way Farnborough set up and it gave us a lot of problems with the way played.
‘It was a good run out and to get through the two 45s injury free is a positive with the performance and result. We’re really happy.
‘It was really important for the young lads to step up to level. It was important for them to learn there’s not a lot of time on the ball and there’s not a lot of space.
‘It was a good lesson and the young lads stood up to it well considering it’s the second week of pre-season and there’s some young lads out there as well. That was really positive for the likes of Fraser coming on to the pitch, who’s never set foot on a pitch in a first-team environment. That was really good.’
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