Joe Rafferty came to this conclusion after learning that his unfortunate teammate had ACL damage in his left knee.
Following the FA Cup defeat at Chesterfield, the impressive Poole will no longer be involved in the league leaders’ Championship push.
It’s bad luck for the former Lincoln man, who had a great start to his Fratton Park career and earned his first Wales cap. Bit Rafferty believes the 25-year-old can still have an impact on Pompey’s promising season. We were hoping for some good news, and it was a bit of a shock to hear this news because Regan’s walking fine,’ he told The News.
He’s had his knee braced as a precaution and is waiting for the swelling to go down before having the operation and having it fixed so he can play next season.
‘He’s a lovely lad, and part of our job now is to keep him involved and around the lads. It’s all about keeping a smile on his face and, as ridiculous as it sounds, keeping him happy when he comes in for rehab.
‘His job will be to motivate us as well; he still has a role to play. He’s not being pushed to one side; he has a role to play in terms of assisting us whenever possible.
‘If he sees anything we should be doing, he is welcome to come and tell us. Even though he’s injured, he still has a significant role to play. We’ll do our best to rally around him and, hopefully, put a smile on his face with our performances and wins over the rest of the season.
‘We have to do it for him, make sure we’re playing well so he’s not missed,’ says the coach. We must all step up, play our best, and hopefully give him something to celebrate at the end of the season.’
Sean Raggett came in for Poole at right-back in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Charlton. It was the veteran defender’s 15th appearance of the season, but only his second league start. ‘Regan has been absolutely brilliant, he has defended on the front foot, been really aggressive at times and is really good on the ball,’ Rafferty added.
‘But we have Raggs, who was fantastic on Saturday. He’s played over 200 times for this club and is a brilliant centre-half who puts his head where it hurts and tackles everything.
