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Former Crystal Palace winger hands Portsmouth fresh injury headache ahead of season-opener at West Ham Franco Umeh’s 11 months at Pompey have been severely hampered by injuries Franco Umeh has given John Mousinho a fresh injury headache. That’s after the winger was forced off during Pompey’s behind-closed-doors friendly win against Kuwait SC on Wednesday at the club’s Hilsea training base. The game was the 21-year-old’s first outing of pre-season as Pompey continue to carefully manage his playing return following a hamstring injury picked up in the FA Cup defeat to Arsenal in January. A groin injury suffered in training last month has also impacted the former Crystal Palace youngster’s involvement as the new season fast approaches. So Umeh playing from the start against Kuwait was considered a major stepping stone as he looks to kick-start his career at Fratton Park. Unfortunately, though, the Irishman’s afternoon was cut short after 12 minutes following a heavy challenge. According to Mousinho, the player felt something in his hamstring and was substituted as a precaution. With Pompey’s season-opener against West Ham approaching, the Blues boss said the medical team would be keeping a close eye on Umeh over the coming days for any ill-effects. Mousinho told The News: ‘We'll have to monitor how Franco is after coming off today. ‘I think he suffered a heavy challenge on the far side and he just felt his hamstring, it felt like it cramped up. ‘Hopefully that's just a sign of it being a reaction to the challenge rather than anything serious.’ Since joining Pompey from Palace on transfer deadline day last summer, Umeh has featured only twice for the Blues and accumulated just 45 minutes of first-team action. His early withdrawal on Wednesday comes at a time when Pompey are struggling for both experience and players in wide areas ahead of their trip to the London Stadium in the Carabao Cup. Josh Murphy and Keshi Anderson will both miss the game because of injury. Meanwhile, there remains a question mark over Harvey Blair’s fitness after he played no part in Saturday’s goalless draw in Darmstadt. The former Liverpool winger felt his hip in the warm-up in Germany. A scan revealed nothing serious. However, Saturday’s game against the Hammers could come around too soon. Mousinho added: ‘Harvey's okay, nothing serious on the scan and we kept him in today so he didn't train. I suspect we'll see him back on the training pitch next week.’ For your next Pompey read: Reported transfer fee Portsmouth will pay Hull City for Abu Kamara revealed