Portsmouth Teenager Luke Brooke-Smith Faces Long Injury Layoff

Portsmouth teenager Luke Brooke-Smith is facing the prospect of missing the rest of the season after suffering a serious ankle injury in training.

The 18-year-old winger, who joined Pompey in the summer from Wellington Phoenix on a permanent deal, dislocated his ankle in what he described as a “freak incident” during a session this week.

Severe damage confirmed

Pompey head coach John Mousinho laid out the grim diagnosis, confirming the scale of the damage.

"It's a really unfortunate one, he's suffered a severe ankle dislocation," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent. "Off the back of that, there is a fracture on his fibula and significant ligament damage."

Club staff reacted quickly at the training ground, with Brooke-Smith taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital before being discharged.

"It was dealt with really well by everyone at the training ground and he was taken to QA before being discharged," Mousinho said. "We're going to leave it to settle for a couple of days, but he will go in for surgery after that."

The injury is expected to keep him out long term, with the likelihood that his debut Championship campaign is effectively over.

A brutal halt to a breakthrough year

Brooke-Smith has featured four times for Portsmouth so far this season. He has one Championship start to his name, with his other appearances coming from the bench, as the club carefully eased the New Zealand youth prospect into senior English football.

That gradual integration has now been abruptly halted.

On Instagram, the winger did not hide the emotional toll of the setback.

"No words with how I'm feeling right now," he wrote. "A freak incident in training causing me to dislocate my ankle, break fibula and potential ligament damage.

"As I don't know the severity yet I'm trying my best to stay positive in a really hard time for me. I will work my hardest to get back out on the pitch to play for this amazing club.

"Thank you to all the staff and players for getting around me."

For a teenager who had just begun to taste Championship football, the road back now runs through surgery, rehabilitation and months of graft. How quickly he can return will say plenty about the resilience behind the promise that first brought him to Fratton Park.