Portsmouth will be without defender Conor Shaugnessy for a prolonged length of time due to a calf injury, according to manager John Mousinho.
Fratton Park has struggled with fitness for the past 12-15 months. Their last League One title-winning season was marred by serious injuries throughout. That theme has sadly carried over into their first season back in the Championship.
Star forward Colby Bishop hasn’t played since an abnormality with his heart was discovered, requiring him to undergo surgery before the start of the current season.
They were also without Regan Poole for the first four games of the season because he was still rehabilitating from a knee injury sustained last November.
He’s finally up to speed after a long period out, but Portsmouth’s defensive options have been hampered once again by an injury to Shaughnessy.
Conor Shaughnessy is sidelined for 4-6 weeks.
Pompey’s manager stated, before of his side’s match against fellow probable relegation contenders Queens Park Rangers, that the centre-back has suffered a calf injury, with a specialist confirming that his absence will be longer than expected. He could be gone until December.
“With Conor there is a bit of tendon damage in the calf and that’s going to keep him out for about 4-6 weeks,” said Mousinho in a telephone interview.
“It appears to be the same region, but not the original injury we were treating. We weren’t treating a tendon injury to begin with, so it’s difficult to say if it was underlying or something he picked up.Regardless, we must deal with what we have. We need to make sure we get it right and that he is back, available, and fit.
“He is now in rehab, working with medical experts to ensure he does everything correctly in order to regain his health.
“It’s really frustrating for us and Conor,” said Mousinho.
“You can probably tell by the fact that when we got him back in training for a week, we wanted to get him back in the side. “He’s such a significant, vital part of what we’ve done here over the last year and what we want to do in the future.” “He’s a huge loss for us.”
Shaughnessy has only played twice for Pompey since their promotion. He joins Bishop, Jacob Farrell, and Ibane Bowat on the injured ward.
It is not all terrible news, however. Callum Lang and Kusini Yengi have resumed training as they work to recover from separate fitness difficulties.
QPR might be an important game for Portsmouth.
Mousinho and his men have failed to earn three points in a game this season, making them the only Championship team without a win. They need to get that monkey off their backs soon rather than later, and a game against a beatable club like QPR might restart things for them.
Under Marti Cifuentes, they haven’t been able to maintain their outstanding record from the second half of last season, and they are only one spot higher in the league table than Portsmouth. In fairness to Pompey, their lack of wins can be attributed to the ludicrously hard start to the season that they have had, facing many teams that could be considered to be the top contenders in the division. Now they are through that run and into an easier stretch which they need to capitalise on if they want to make their stay in the Championship a more long-term thing. A win over QPR would be a great way to get that push going.
Leave a Reply