Prior to Pompey’s Saturday, November 25, EFL League One matchup at Fratton Park against Blackpool, the latest injury and squad news is available.
Pompey hosts Blackpool at Fratton Park to kick off their EFL League One season.
The international break gave the Blues a week off, but they now have a hectic schedule of games ahead of them. Even though Chesterfield eliminated them from the FA Cup, John Mousinho’s team is still in the EFL Trophy, undefeated in the league, and performing up to early season expectations.
Portsmouth’s most recent round of games starts on Tuesday (November 28) against the Tangerines. After that, they travel to the Pirelli Stadium. Mousinho brought both good and bad news earlier in the week. Although Connor Ogilvie has experienced a minor setback, Anthony Scully may make a comeback.
Due to damage to his ankle ligament, Marlon Pack has missed the last few weeks of action, but he is back in the training and may be considered. With his background in the game and his ability to guide the younger players through matches, his return would be greatly appreciated.
In addition, Saturday’s matchup offers an opportunity to witness two of the division’s top strikers. Jordan Rhodes has the same amount of goals and three assists in 14 games compared to Colby Bishop’s 10 goals and two assists in 16 games for Pompey, giving Rhodes a marginally superior goals-per-game ratio. Blackpool will be buoyant after winning their first three league games after defeating Shrewsbury Town 4-0 last time out.
See which Blackpool and Pompey players are available for today’s match by clicking through. The manager of each player will provide an explanation or an update on their injuries.
1. Kylian Kouassi – out
Striker Kylian Kouassi picked up a hamstring injury earlier this month. He’s set for a spell on the sidelines.
2. Kylian Kouassi – out (continued)
“Unfortunately Kylian had an injury in training after the game against Bolton,” Blackpool boss Neil Critchley explained on November 18. “He’s going to be missing for a bit of time. It’s his hamstring, and he’ll be missing for a good few weeks.
3. Tom Lowery – out
He’s been out since the first game of the season. He suffered damage to his meniscus against Bristol Rovers, and has been out for several months. He’s back training, and an expected return date of December 4 has been pencilled in by John Mousinho.
4. Tom Lowery – out (continued)
John Mousinho said on November 23: “He’s not in full training yet, he’s dipping in and out of sessions. He probably did about 75 per cent of the last two sessions and will get fully involved in Friday, because that’s a lot lighter
5. Shayne Lavery – out
Shayne Lavery picked up a hamstring injury, and will be out for the coming weeks. He was ruled out of international duty.
6. Shayne Lavery – out (continued)
“He’s unfortunately out,” Blackpool boss Neil Critchley explained on November 15. “He had to come off against Bromley because he felt his hamstring. “We were hoping it would settle down, and it did initially, but then he wasn’t responding to treatment, so he went for a scan. “We got the results back at the end of last week, and now he’s set to be out for the next few weeks at least.”
7. Anthony Scully – out (continued)
John Mousinho said on November 23: “Maybe he won’t be playing in a game before the end of the year, but he could be available for selection. “It’s a difficult one when you’ve been out for that amount of time, you’ve got to be really careful.”
8. Anthony Scully – out
Anthony Scully suffered a knee injury at the end of August and underwent surgery at the end of September. It was thought that he would be out until the New Year, but in the most recent injury update, he was given a glimmer of hope that he could play before the end of 2023. He won’t be playing at the weekend however.
9. Ollie Norburn – doubt (continued)
Neil Critchley said on November 23: “Ollie Norburn is desperate to be involved at the weekend and has done bits on the grass. We’re not ruling him out yet.”
10. Ollie Norburn – doubt
Ollie Norburn has played once since mid-October. He first had a neck problem and then returned against Bolton Wanderers earlier this month. Norburn suffered an injury to his ribs, and that has had him out for the last two games.
11. Matty Virtue – doubt
Matty Virtue has been out of action since mid-September. He’s had a hamstring injury, though he has returned to training. Neil Critchley has a decision to be make about whether he’s ready for selection.
12. Matty Virtue – doubt (continued)
Neil Critchley said on November 23: “Matty is back in training, he has missed about five or six weeks with his hamstring. “Before that he was involved in some of our games, and was playing in the squad. “We have to decide now whether he’s had enough training and exposed enough physically to be in contention. “He’s been training now 10 days, nearly two weeks. It gives us another headache for this weekend.”
13. Jordan Rhodes – fit
Jordan Rhodes was ‘touch and go’ last week for Blackpool. He hadn’t trained until Thursday, but managed to play 68 minutes against Shrewsbury Town in which he scored.
14. Jordan Rhodes – fit (continued)
“I wouldn’t say that he’s 100%,” said Critchley about Rhodes on November 23. “He’s better than he was last Saturday, he was really touch-and-go for that game. “We’ve managed him a little bit this week and looked after him but I’m expecting Jordan to be putting himself forward and to be okay again come Saturday.”
15. Tayt Trusty – out
Tayt Trusty broke his leg in the EFL Trophy win against Morecambe last week. It was his first appearance of the season and he made a 19-minute cameo.
16. Tayt Trusty – out (continued)
“It’s not good,” Critchley said on November 16. “There’s a fracture there, he’s broken his leg- which is not nice for any young player. “It’s really unfortunate. He’ll get all the support he needs from all of us.”
17. Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel – doubt
Been out since the end of April with a knee injury. He’s returned to training in the last few weeks, played 45 minutes against Morecambe, and 65 minutes against Sunderland’s under-21’s. Neil Critchley still has some question marks on when to play him in a league game.
18. Jordan Lawrence-Gable – doubt (continued)
Lawrence-Gabriel said on November 15: “Hopefully I’ll be able to get involved in a league game to get some more minutes- whatever it is, I’m ready for it. “I’m still quite rusty, but I can’t wait to do it again.”
19. Tino Anjorin – out
Tino Anjorin is out for a minimum of eight weeks. He suffered a hamstring injury against Chesterfield in the FA Cup. Despite his injury, he’s expected to remain at Fratton Park and his loan from Chelsea will not be cancelled.
20. Tino Anjorin – out (continued)
“It’s a hamstring tear,” John Mousinho said on November 10. “So we are going to be cautious and get a second opinion on the scan to make sure we are happy with the course of rehab and recovery. “The results are probably worse than we thought. “It’s one of those injuries where we just need to tread carefully, it might be about eight weeks or more out because of the severity of it.”
21. Regan Poole – out
Expected to miss the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign. Suffered an ACL injury against Chesterfield in the FA Cup.
22. Regan Poole – out (continued)
John Mousinho said on November 11: “Regan has torn his ACL unfortunately, so that’s him for the season. It’s one of those things in football that can happen, there’s nothing you can do about it. We have to make sure we deal with it. If anyone can deal with a long spell out and making sure he’s fit and strong, it’s Regan. The surgery is excellent, they’re quick and in and out. I know that having had one myself and coming back in sparkling form obviously! The prognosis for him is good. Of course it’s a blow. We don’t want to lose any player and the fewer injured the better.”
23. Paddy Lane – out (continued)
John Mousinho said on November 23: “It’s highly unlikely he will feature at the weekend. It shouldn’t be too long that he’s out but it’s slightly precautionary, we are looking at a couple of weeks.”
24. Paddy Lane – out
Paddy Lane has a torn calf that he sustained against Charlton and that forced him to withdraw from international duty with Northern Ireland. New signing Josh Martin could start in Lane’s absence, and the winger is expected to miss the next fortnight of action.
25. Connor Ogilvie – out
Suffered ankle ligament damage having returned from a separate injury on October 24. He was given a timescale of six to eight weeks but the former Gillingham defender has suffered a setback, and now there’s an uncertainty about when he will return.
26. Connor Ogilvie – out (continued)
John Mousinho said on November 23: “It’s not quite as straightforward as we were hoping with Connor. ‘He had a couple of injections on that ankle and we thought that would settle it down, but it hasn’t. ‘There’s not a timescale on that at the moment, we’re just waiting to see. ‘He’s going to see a specialist as well, so we’ll have to go from there now with Connor, and see where we get to. ‘ There’s no rush with him. We want him back as quickly as we can, but not at the expense of doing more damage.’
