Mark O’Mahony netted three goals in 13 appearances for Pompey during his season-long loan stint last term.
Former Pompey striker Mark O’Mahony’s frustrations have continued as an injury-ravaged season-long loan with Reading has come to a premature end.
But injury has forced O’Mahony’s stay with the Berkshire outfit to come to a disappointing end.
A serious knee problem sustained in December has forced the frontman to miss the previous three months of action, in which time Leam Richardson’s side have propelled themselves into play-off contention.
Former Pompey loanee endures injury frustrations at Reading
His set-back is now expected to keep him out of the Royals’ all-important run-in as they target a return to the Championship for the first time in three years.
O’Mahony confirmed his season has come to an abrupt end as injuries once again trouble his progress into first-team football.
A post on Instagram read: ‘Not the way I wanted this season to go or end but always grateful for it and thanks to Reading for the time I had there. Time to recover and get ready for next season.’
The former Pompey man failed to score in any of his 16 League One outings, with his most recent league start coming in August under former boss Noel Hunt.
Following Richardson’s arrival in late October, O’Mahony registered a further six outings and totalled just 84 minutes as he fell down the pecking order under the new boss.
Mark O'Mahony.placeholder image
Mark O'Mahony. | Getty Images
It continues the Irishman’s frustrations after an injury-hit stint with Pompey last term, limited him to just 13 outings for the Blues.
After missing early parts of the 2024-25 campaign with a foot problem, a side strain suffered against Swansea City in November 2024 sidelined the forward for more than two-and-a-half months.
Although O’Mahony netted on his injury return against Oxford United in February 2025, he featured just three further appearances for John Mousinho’s men.
Brighton striker’s ‘hugely successful’ Pompey loan
Despite his set-back, the head coach felt the Brighton man’s stint at PO4 proved ‘hugely successful’ as he continued his development into first-team football.
Mousinho told The News in May 2025: ‘When you strip everything back for Mark, it has been an incredibly successful loan for him personally.
‘He’s had the highs of coming in and scoring against Oxford, against Stoke, at Oxford again. The highs of starting games at Championship level and performing really well.
‘Then he’s had the lows of picking up the injury against Swansea and another away on international duty. He’s probably had the lows of not being in the squad towards the back end of the season as well, not quite hitting the levels that he’d hit earlier in the year.
‘As a first loan he’s had everything and that’s really important. He has made a contribution to us staying in the league, a big contribution, he’s started plenty of games, he’s come off the bench in plenty of games, he absolutely would have wanted to have played more.
‘I think he has gone back to Brighton a much better player, so it has been a really successful loan for him.
‘A first loan can be incredibly difficult. The environment players come out of at Premier League 2 level is very, very different to what they are faced with in the Championship - and there's nothing you can really do to try to replicate that.
‘To make that adjustment is big and first loans often fall flat on their face, some players are sent back in January, but Mark definitely wasn’t one of those.’
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