Injury blow for Portsmouth winger sees issues mount ahead of Derby County as team-mate’s handed international chance
Gavin Whyte has been forced to withdraw from international duty through injury.
But the winger’s hamstring issue has opened the door for a Northern Ireland call-up for Paddy Lane.
Whyte was taken off in the second half of Saturday’s 3-1 win over Peterborough at Fratton Park.
Ironically, the summer arrival from Cardiff was replaced by Whyte for the final 21 minutes of the game, with the 22-year-old now doing likewise in Michael O’Neill’s squad.
It means Lane will be involved in his country’s Euro 2024 qualifiers away to Slovenia and Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Pompey fans will wait to hear the extent of Whyte’s injury with a blank weekend for the international break before the trip to Pride Park to take on fancied Derby on September 16.
John Mousinho is already without suspended Joe Rafferty, after he picked up a three-game ban for his red card at Stevenage.
And Rafferty will be joined by Joe Morrell on the unavailable list, after the Wales international’s late dismissal on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Anthony Scully is waiting to see the extent of his knee injury after undergoing a scan and missing the past three games.
Kusini Yengi is on the comeback trail after picking up ankle ligament damage in training - with the outlook much better than was initially feared.
It’s a similar story for Tom Lowery after he picked up a knee injury on the opening day against Bristol Rovers, with the subsequent detail over the timeframe for a return placed at three instead of five months.
First-year pro Josh Dockerill is the other place in the treatment room, after picking up an unfortunate knee anterior cruciate ligament injury at Gosport in pre-season.
Ronan Curtis is returning from the same issue at Pompey, despite now being a free agent.
Of Pompey’s squad, Morrell is also on international duty with Wales white Terry Devlin is with Northern Ireland’s under-21 set-up.