New injury woe for Portsmouth as defender joins lengthy list of fitness problems after Bristol City pain
Hayden Matthews has joined the lengthy list of Pompey players sidelined through injury.
And Blues boss John Mousinho has ruled out any of his huge number of absent players being back in contention to face Ipswich Town on Sunday.
Pompey were dealt yet another blow in the 5-0 New Year’s Day thrashing Ashton Gate, as Matthews was unable to complete the game after replacing Conor Shaughnessy in the 62nd minute.
The Aussie suffered an ankle blow in the incident, with Mousinho confirming the 21-year-old has been added to the injury list.
Mousinho isn’t expecting anyone to be available for the Ipswich clash, with loanee Conor Chaplin also ruled out with Pompey facing his parent club.
The Pompey boss has given details of the time frames for those who are missing, with Josh Murphy (hamstring), Callum Lang (hamstring) and Colby Bishop (not disclosed) all expected to be back to face Sheffield Wednesday on January 17.
The news is far worse over Mark Kosznovszky, with Pompey fearing a long-term injury for the Hungarian, after he went down with a knee issue against Charlton Athletic last month.
Marlon Pack (hamstring) is having a scan, but Mousinho is optimistic his skipper could be back to face Arsenal a week Sunday in the FA Cup.
Pompey are also currently without Connor Ogilvie (knee), Josh Knight (back), Thomas Waddingham (quad) and Florian Bianchini (knee).
Mousinho said: ‘Hayden rolled his ankle in the challenge on the far side, it was a tough one for us and another injury on the list.
‘I don’t think we will have any returning for the weekend.
‘We’ve got two or three we’re hopeful will be back for the Sheffield Wednesday game post Arsenal.
‘That will be an important period to get through.
‘Mark, we haven’t had the scan yet but it looked like a long-termer for Mark. We’re not sure yet, we’re waiting for the scan but it doesn’t look great.
‘Then everyone else we had that was set to return is pretty much on track.
‘Marlon has a hamstring and should be back for Arsenal, Colby’s one that will be back post Arsenal.
‘With Langy and Murphy it should be post Arsenal for them, it’s one or two weeks away for the pair of them.’
The only glimmer of positive injury news for Pompey at present was the return of Jacob Farrell to the squad against Bristol City, after a Fratton stay to date wrecked by injury.
The Aussie left-back has been out with an ongoing groin issue, with his time at PO4 to date restricted to just a single league appearance against Sheffield United last term.
The 23-year-old’s only outing this term came in the Carabao Cup loss to Reading last August, but Mousinho was able to name the Central Coast Mariners signing on the bench on New Year’s Day.
He said: ‘Jacob is fit again and back in, so that’s a positive to have him back.’