New dad Lowe's Pompey dash

And Kenny Jackett revealed he had no option but to drop the new father to Pompey’s bench.

Lowe’s fiancée yesterday gave birth to a 6lb 8oz baby girl, with the winger by her side.

As a result, he was unable to train in the build up to the Keepmoat Stadium fixture and didn’t travel with the rest of the squad.

Instead, Gareth Evans was handed a first league start since August, when he was sent off at Wigan.

Lowe arrived two hours before kick-off, having travelled with chief executive Mark Catlin to the game.

He then appeared at the interval for Blues skipper on the night Evans, yet was unable to prevent a 2-1 defeat to Darren Ferguson’s men.

Jackett said: ‘Jamal’s not trained, he drove up yesterday afternoon and we were preparing without him with Gareth Evans.

‘He did well to get up there, at one stage I didn’t think he would make it.

‘Jamal missed the training sessions, he was in hospital up until 10.30am on the morning of the game, having been there the previous night.

‘We needed to work with the team that was coming up here, so he was on the bench.

‘It was a frustrating second half because it was quite a good performance from substitute Conor Chaplin, who to a degree got us going.

‘But we couldn’t really get Jamal in the game, although he nearly made a big contribution in the end with a good header – and a good save by the goalkeeper.

‘All is well and okay with the family, which is good news and congratulations to him on a personal level.’

Lowe has scored four goals in 14 appearances this year.