He's back. Almost: The positive news Portsmouth faithful have...

Conor Shaughnessy will return to training next week, according to John Mousinho, who has given Pompey

supporters the news they have been waiting for.

The Blues manager is certain that the central defender won’t be prepared for a first-team return until the following

month.

Nearly five months have passed since the former Leeds player’s final Pompey appearance against Luton in the

season’s third game.

Since then he has torn tendons in each of his calves and twice broken down during attempted returns, including

minutes before he was scheduled to start against Sheffield United in September.

However, Mousinho is now ready to finally welcome him back into first-team training.

“Conor should be training with us at the end of next week,” he told The News. The return to play is a different matter

with him than the return to training.

We simply need to exercise caution and take things one day at a time because he has been out for five to six months.

Conor’s initial course of action is to complete a solid training regimen.

Given how long he has been away, there is no chance that he will return to play until the beginning of February, even

if he trains the following week. You have to keep that in mind at all times.

As a general guideline, it often takes a week of training to get back to normal after a month-long absence.

“You’re probably looking at four weeks if you’re out for four months; maybe not quite that extreme with Conor, but

probably in and around that timescale.”

When Shaughnessy was straight line running in training in November, he tore his other calf, which was his most

recent physical setback.

It has been a bleak period for the talented central defender, who has also been the subject of a number of wild

conspiracy theories, some suggesting he isn’t actually injured.

The 28-year-old has been sorely missed from the Blues side, with Marlon Pack forced to stand-in, while Rob

Atkinson has now arrived on loan from Bristol City to bolster the position.

From our perspective, there isn’t much we can do differently this time, Mousinho continued. We will undoubtedly

keep an eye on Conor throughout training once he returns and is prepared, just like we did the last time.

He had a fairly restful couple of days leading up to the Sheffield United match, and he hurt himself again during the

warm-up by not doing much.

This time, he is approaching his rehabilitation in a somewhat different way, both in terms of the guidance he has

received and the rehabilitation he has been doing following a consultation with a doctor. Hopefully, things will turn

out differently.

He’s back. Almost: The positive news Portsmouth faithful have wanted to hear about Fratton favourite