Is this Portsmouth's strongest XI and bench if John Mousinho's side reported clean bill of health for Championship run-in?
Pompey have had their fair share of injuries this season - we can all agree on that.
For one reason or another, at no point in the current campaign has John Mousinho been able to pick what many would consider his strongest XI.
The season-opener against Leeds, for instance, saw the Blues head to Elland Road without the likes of Colby Bishop, Josh Murphy or Kusini Yengi. Meanwhile, five months on from that 3-3 draw with the current league leaders, Pompey take on Middlesbrough today with Regan Poole, Conor Shaughnessy, Jacob Farrell, Yengi, Mark O’Mahony, Harvey Blair, Paddy Lane and Ibane Bowatt all on the sidelines rather than on the pitch and able to contribute to the Fratton Park outfit’s Championship survival bid.
There’s hope some of the above will return in the coming weeks to aid the Blues’ battle against relegation, while there’s ambition to add to the two signings already made in the January transfer window - Rob Atkinson and Isaac Hayden. So the team that lines up against Boro this afternoon could be completely different to the one, say, that travels to Sheffield United on Saturday, February 8.
That will come as great relief to all associated with Pompey, with Mousinho’s options reduced even further in recent games following the departures of Elias Sorensen and Sammy Silvera this month.
But what does Pompey’s best XI look like if all their walking wounded were fit and available and were competing with new-boys Atkinson and Hayden for a starting place?
Here’s our starting XI and bench if Mousinho reported a clean bill of health. Let us us know if you agree or disagree.
Goalkeeper
Selection: Nicolas Schmid
The Austrian has quickly established himself as Pompey’s No1 following his summer arrival and Will Norris’ demotion after that 6-1 humbling at Stoke back in October. He’s looks assured in goal - but there’s still plenty of room for improvement, as the midweek defeat at Blackburn highlighted.
Defence
Selection: Zak Swanson, Conor Shaughnessy, Rob Atkinson, Connor Ogilvie
With 44 goals conceded this season already - the joint-second-worst in the Championship - Pompey have struggled defensively this season. That’s no secret, with Shaughnessy proving a massive miss in the centre of defence because of a calf complaint. Poole’s recent hamstring and calf issues have also not helped, while, of course, Bowat was ruled out for the season before he’d even kicked a ball for his new emplyers.
As a result, Marlon Pack has filled in at centre-back and helped steadied the ship. Yet, he’s clearly not a long-term option in that role.
A fit Shaughnessy returns to the teamsheet straight away, leaving Poole and Atkinson to contest the other central defensive position. Poole has shown he’s capable of playing Championship football after his return from an ACL injury, but Atkinson has been successfully operating at this level for a lot longer, and while he’s shown signs of rust in his three games to date, you can spot the additional quality he brings to the backline. He gets the nod, ensuring Pompey have a decent option to call upon from the bench in Poole.
At full-back, Ogilvie gets the nod on the left, simply because we’ve not seen enough of Aussie Farrell to really know what he’s capable of. There’s no doubt, though, that Ogilvie needs competition over the second half of the season - even if it is just to give him a rest every now and again, having played all but one league game this season.
Pompey have three viable options at right-back in Zak Swanson, Jordan Williams and Terry Devlin. Reputation-wise, Devlin has certainly enhanced his credentials after stepping in while the other two have had their injuries, while it’s fair to say we’ve not seen Williams at his best since his free transfer move from Barnsley in the summer. Swanson seems to be Mousinho top pick when everyone’s available. He’s effective both defensively and offensively, although needs to sharpen up a bit in the former. Despite that, he gets to nod to start.
Midfield
Selection: Freddie Potts, Isaac Hayden
A bit like the defence this season, Pompey’s engine room has struggled in the Championship. Not though injury, though - mostly because of a lack of quality and depth.
The Blues added three new midfield additions in the summer, with Andre Dozzell, Freddie Potts and Abdoulaye Kamara all tasked to compete for a role alongside skipper Pack. However, the captain found himself dropped to the bench 13 games into the season, with West Ham loanee Potts and Dozzell promoted as the preferred midfield partnership. It’s a combination that has served the Blues well - but not well enough, if we’re being frank!
It’s a department Mousinho has quickly moved to strengthen with the arrival of Newcastle midfielder Hayden. He’s expected to provide additional experience and nous for a key area that also needs a bit of steely determination and grit. He starts, even if Pack isn’t needed in the centre of defence. And it’s perhaps more bad news for Pack, with Potts selected ahead of him for that second midfield slot.
Both Dozzell and Pack make the bench and provide the much-needed depth the Blues have been lacking here in recent weeks and months. The fact that summer signing Kamara doesn’t get a mention says it all, really, as a question mark lingers over his Fratton Park future.
Attacking three
Selection: Matt Ritchie, Callum Lang, Josh Murphy
This department is a real area of concern now, with Sorensen and Silvera’s departures - coupled with a potential injury to Lane - exposing a lack of depth. Although, that depth was already being questioned, even before Pompey sanctioned the exits of the Dane and the Middlesbrough loanee.
Picking Ritchie, Lang and Murphy is easy in that respect. Yet it remains an area that needs fresh impetus, especially down the right. Pompey wanted an additional option for the right wing, even before Lane went off injured against Blackburn in midweek. Competition for Lang in the No10 role is also something the Blues want to address. But any signing there will be to supplement what the former Wigan man brings to the team.
New additions here before the transfer window closes could leave the likes of Christian Saydee and Blair dangerously close to missing out on a match-day, even if fit!
Centre-forward
Selection: Colby Bishop
Pompey are struggling for numbers in that central attacking role, with Yengi and O’Mahony both currently out injured. Pompey are on the brink of signing young Brisbane Roar frontman Thomas Waddingham. But irrespective of the aforementioned, Bishop is the Blues’ first-choice striker.
His November return from heart surgey handed Pompey a huge boost - and the former Accrington man hasn’t let the Blues down, with three goals and two assists registered in the 12 league games he’s played to date.
Scoring the goals to ensure Pompey’s Championship survival shouldn’t rest of Bishop’s shoulders, though, or Lang. Getting both Yengi and O’Mahony back fit will be imperative, although they’ll have to settle for the roles of back-up support as the 28-year-old simply makes the Blues a better side when he’s available.
Substitutions
Selection: Jordan Archer, Jordan Williams, Regan Poole, Jacob Farrell, Marlon Pack, Andre Dozzell, Paddy Lane, Kusini Yengi, Mark O’Mahony.
Mousinho has been severely limited with what he can call upon from the bench regularly this season. The depth just hasn’t been there, which has hampered the Blues’ bid to get back into certain games. But with everyone back fit, there’s proof that Pompey have options that can help change the course of a match.
That doesn’t mean to say, though, that extra reinforcements are not needed between now and February 3. They are!
Players to miss out
Selection: Will Norris, Terry Devlin, Ryley Towler, Owen Moxon, Ibane Bowatt, Christian Saydee, Tom McIntyre, Abdoulaye Kamara, Harvey Blair.
Devlin, Towler, Bowat and perhaps Saydee would be the only ones with a legitimate reason to be peeved with a place in the stands on a match-day. But with the Championship an unforgiving division, there’s no room for sentiment or favourtism, as Norris’ case shows. Mousinho would expect these types of players to prove their Championship quality and fight for a recall rather than sulk on the sidelines.