“The tear on the hamstring is worse” – Manchester City midfielder ruled out for the season

Manchester City have received a second successive injury blow to one of their on-loan stars, with midfield prospect Alex Robertson out for the remainder of the season.

The problem sustained by Robertson follows on from a knee injury at Hull City, as on-loan striker Liam Delap has succumbed to a minimum two or three month lay-off should he not require surgery on the issue.

Alex Robertson has played an integral role in everything good Portsmouth have done in League Two so far this season, registering a total of 23 appearances so far this campaign, scoring one goal and providing four assists.

However, any such progress has now been cut short after the player sustained a serious problem in first-team training that will see him return to Manchester City for further assessment and second opinion on the issue.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, Portsmouth manager John Mousinho has confirmed that the 20-year-old midfielder – on loan from Manchester City – has suffered a ‘serious hamstring injury’ in training for the club.

Mousinho explained, “The tear on the hamstring is worse than we originally thought and it’s unlikely we’ll see him before the end of the season. He’s back at Manchester City getting a second opinion but it’s a real blow, for us and him.

He continued, “We always look at the reasons for what might have gone wrong. On Thursday he was fresh, he felt good, he’d had far fewer minutes over those 10 days (Christmas and new year) and four games than he’d previously had. It’s a really unfortunate one.”

Portsmouth currently top the EFL League Two table with rivalry for top spot from Bolton Wanderers, having won 15 and drawn eight of their first 26 games so far this season – two games more than their aforementioned rivals.

At present, it remains unknown as to whether Manchester City and Portsmouth will agree to cut short Robertson’s loan agreement, to allow for the player to be cared for by medical professionals at the Etihad Stadium.