West Ham loanee Freddie Potts has been given reassurances over his playing time as he aims to make a return from injury for Portsmouth against QPR this weekend.
The 21-year-old picked up a calf problem at Sheffield United earlier this month but Pompey boss confirmed that it was ‘nothing major’ and hoped that Potts would be back in the side again to face QPR. The R’s make the trip to Fratton Park on Saturday in Championship action.
Portsmouth have deployed former QPR men Andre Dozzell and Isaac Hayden in central midfield since Potts’ absence. The Hammers man had started 25 of 27 Portsmouth fixtures up until that point, only missing out when needing a rest.
John Mousinho labels Freddie Potts as ‘outstanding’
Since his calf injury, Portsmouth have beaten Cardiff City and Oxford United, which pointed to a battle for Potts to get back into the side against QPR. However, Mousinho told The News that the loan star is still in his thinking. He said: “Nobody is an automatic selection, but I certainly think that, when Freddie’s available, he more than deserves to be on the team sheet at the moment. As long as he plays as well as he’s been playing, he will keep his place.
“We’ve been playing him game after game after game. January certainly was an absolutely nuts month in terms of the amount of matches we had. If I ever thought there had been a significant dip with Freddie, I would have brought him out of the side, and I didn’t.
“The only two games I did bring him out were Bristol City and West Brom, just to protect him and rest him. He was always going to come back in after that. I have always thought he deserves to be selected in the side and, overall, he has been outstanding.
“Testament to Freddie, when we looked at January, he was one we were hoping to keep rather than looking to do anything else. It was much more of a case of looking over our shoulder and making sure he wasn’t recalled.”
Freddie Potts in contention for QPR return
Potts joined Portsmouth on a season-long loan last August, having impressed at Wycombe Wanderers in League One during the 2023/24 campaign. The midfielder has made three first-team appearances for West Ham in his career, two of those cameos in the Europa Conference League on the side’s journey to European glory.
Mousinho added: “As soon as we could get Freddie into the side we did. He played at Burnley and has kept his place pretty much ever since. For him it has been about adjustment to a different level, adjustment to a different level of a side which hasn’t been pulling up trees for the majority of the season – that is a big adjustment.
“He has come in and made sure he’s really developed that physical side to his game. He is really, really promising, an excellent technical player, and has coped with it really well.”
In other news, another West Ham loanee is set to be recalled from League Two following a devastating hamstring injury.
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