Southport defender suffers ‘catastrophic injury’ against Stones

A former Celtic and Portsmouth defender faces a battle to play again after he suffered a serious knee injury against Wealdstone on Saturday.

Josh Thompson (pictured above, in yellow), who played 18 times in the Scottish Premier League, was stretchered off midway through the second half of Southport’s FA Trophy game with the Stones.

The 25-year-old will need major reconstructive surgery, expected to take place on Monday.

A Southport statement said Thompson had “suffered a catastrophic injury to his patella”.

It added: “Sadly, Josh faces a considerable battle to be able to play football again.”

An ambulance had taken him from Southport’s Merseyrail Community Stadium to hospital, where he was accompanied by his parents and club physio Luke McCall, before being discharged once his pain levels had subsided.

The former England Under-19 international saw a specialist for the injury on Sunday.

Thompson began his career at Stockport before a 2009 move to Celtic, where he played under Tony Mowbray.

He had loan spells at Rochdale, Peterborough and Chesterfield before joining Portsmouth in 2012 – however he only featured twice in League One and went on to play for Colchester and Tranmere, prior to signing for Southport.