'It's imperative' - The key problem Portsmouth must fix during international break following rude awakening against Sunderland
No-one said it was going to be easy for Pompey on their Championship return.
Successive draws against three teams tipped to be among the promotion mix come the end of the season - Leeds, Luton and Middlesbrough - suggested it might not be as hard as first thought. Indeed, the Blues could easily have come away with maximum points from all three encounters had luck prevailed.
However, Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Sunderland was a rude awakening. It proved more than anything that top teams at Championship level can rip you to shreds given the chance and when kinks in armour are exposed.
Those Pompey kinks were in full view of the Fratton faithful at the weekend - despite the Blues, in fairness, putting in a decent shift against the Black Cats.
No doubt, John Mousinho & Co will work hard to bolster any weaknesses during the international break, with the Blues’ next game not until Sunday, September 15, against West Brom.
But the one that requires more attention above all others has to be the Fratton Park outfit’s current injury concerns.
Worrying injury record
Since being welcomed back to the Championship with open arms, Pompey, unbelievably, have not even been close to naming their strongest team. Injuries have restricted Mousinho selections from the off, with a raft of personnel spending more time in the treatment room than where it matters at the Blues’ Hilsea training base - on the pitch.
Five - not including Colby Bishop, who underwent heart surgery at the beginning of August - missed the season-opener at Leeds. The subsequent fixtures against Luton, Boro and Sunderland saw six ruled out because of injury or ‘illness’ as the Blues’ problems got worse rather better.
Like Bishop’s health issue, Regan Poole’s continued rehab from the ACL issue he picked up last November can be considered a separate matter. That’s a long-standing injury, although there’s recent evidence from the club’s social channels that he’s slowly but surely closing in on his long-awaited Pompey return.
That represents good news and hopefully there’s light at the end of the tunnel for Tom McIntyre (hamstring), Jacob Farrell (knee) and Josh Murphy (ankle) - three players who are yet to contribute to the Championship cause this term. There’s a strong case that each would make a ‘Pompey’s strongest XI if everyone was fit line-up’. But until they’re injury-free and available for selection, Pompey are continually having to plug holes.
Murphy - Pompey’s eye-catching free transfer arrival from Oxford - was last available on August 3, for the 2-0 pre-season defeat at Charlton. Farrell - who arrived to provide serious competition for Conor Ogilvie at left-back - picked up his knee injury very soon after arriving from Central Coast Mariners in July and has not been seen since. Meanwhile, Pompey fans will be forgiven for failing to remember what McIntyre looks like following his unfortunate luck with injuries since arriving from Reading in January. The centre-back’s last involvement - after fracturing his ankle on debut - was against Wycombe in the Blues’ behind-closed-doors friendly in July.
Fresh concern not helpful
That central defensive department has, of course, been of huge concern in recent weeks, with Conor Shaughnessy and Ryley Towler picking up most of the slack during the opening weeks of the season. However, Pompey’s problems there soon got worse after the former was ruled out of both the Middlesbrough and Sunderland games because of illness and ‘a couple of knocks and bruises’.
His absence was sorely missed - and just like Murphy, McIntyre and Farrell - his road to recovery needs to be sooner rather than later as the calibre of Championship opponents shows no sign of letting up.
The international break should give Pompey the ideal opportunity to welcome their walking wounded back. Meanwhile, the 15-day gap between games will also give Mousinho valuable time to fully integrate his most recent signings into the group - including deadline day arrival Ibane Bowat.
However, it’s imperative those recently ‘crooked’ players start making their way back to give the head coach a selection headache rather than the headache of finding solutions to their ongoing absences.
Without them, the task of competing at Championship level is simply that much harder.