Luckless ex-Portsmouth, Birmingham and Manchester United winger back with a bang after three years out

A former Pompey player is back in action - after almost three years without a competitive appearance.

Jayden Reid moved to Finland in January to kick-start a once-promising career blighted by a succession of serious injuries.

And already the switch is paying dividends for the former Birmingham winger, who endured such wretched luck at Fratton Park.

The unfortunate Reid spent two years injured during his time on the south coast, failing to make a single first-team outing, instead solely appearing in eight pre-season fixtures.

Signed in July 2021 following a successful trial, days later he featured as a late substitute in a friendly at Luton, only to rupture cruciate ligaments in his left knee.

Ruled out for the season, he returned the following summer, appearing in four friendlies, yet tore his hamstring in pre-season at Bristol City in July 2022 - and never played for Pompey again.

The attacker’s awful misfortune continued when, during his injury comeback, he damaged the ACL in his right knee in training, putting him out for the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign.

Released by John Mousinho last summer, it took until January 2024 for Reid to fix himself up with another club, joining Finnish side IFK Mariehamn.

At the time, the 22-year-old’s last competitive outing was on loan at Walsall, when he faced Exeter in March 2021 and was withdrawn at half-time.

However, the former Manchester United and Swansea youth player has hit the ground running with IFK Mariehamn, featuring four times in the group campaign of their League Cup.

That included a goal on his debut after being introduced at half-time in last month’s 2-0 success at Inter Turku.

Since then, Reid has made two starts and another substitute outing in the cup competition, which precedes next month’s launch of their Veikkausliiga season.

IFK Mariehamn finished 12th out of 12 in the 2023 campaign, yet managed to avoid relegation after winning through the play-offs to end up 11th.

In terms of English football, Reid has made 17 appearances, representing Birmingham in the Championship, then League Two loan spells with Barrow and Walsall.

Now he’s hoping to finally enjoy a sustained run of regular first-team football after three awful years on the sidelines.