Portsmouth dealt major suspension blow ahead of Charlton Athletic following Bristol City defeat
Pompey make the trip to Charlton Athletic next week occupying a place in the Championship relegation zone.
Pompey make the trip to Charlton Athletic next week on a disappointing run of form, which has seen them slip into the Championship relegation zone.
Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Bristol City at Fratton Park condemned the Blues to their sixth defeat in eight league matches despite a bright start to the campaign.
On top of the disappointing result for John Mousinho’s men, the head coach will be without one key player for the visit to the capital on the weekend.
EFL suspension rules
EFL suspension rules state that any player who accumulates five yellow cards before game-week 19 must serve a one-game ban. 10 yellows before match-week 32 will result in a two-match ban while 15 bookings before a team’s 38th match will mean a three-match suspension.
The midfielder needed to survive just two matches without a caution to avoid a ban after previous bookings against Preston North End, Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough and Wrexham.
The 26-year-old is one of two players to have started every game for Pompey this term, with Regan Poole the only other ever-present fixture in Mousinho’s side.
Dozzell has massively impressed in the engine room during the opening 18 matches of the season, which has already seen him partner Marlon Pack, John Swift, Mark Kosznovszky and Luke Le Roux at various points of the campaign so far.
But that incredible run in the starting XI will come to an end next week as he serves his one-game ban. The head coach, though, does have plenty of options to choose from, with Kosznovszky coming back into the side over the past three matches.
After starts against Millwall and Sheffield United, the Hungarian dropped to the bench on Saturday afternoon against Bristol City, but was utilised from the bench by the Blues boss.
The summer arrival replaced Dozzell on 51 minutes and partnered Pack in the engine room for the final 39 minutes of the 1-0 defeat.
Swift also returned to the fray as a second-half substitute at Fratton, but Le Roux has been left out of Pompey’s previous three Championship squads.
Pompey’s yellow cards and players currently on tightropes
Dozzell isn’t the first member of Mousinho’s squad to have been a one-match ban due to yellow cards this season, with Swift forced to miss the 1-0 defeat to Stoke City last month.
A number of Pompey players are walking on suspension tightropes heading into next week’s cut off, with Pack and Regan Poole currently sitting on four bookings so far.
Josh Murphy and Zak Swanson have three yellow cards, while Colby Bishop, Connor Ogilvie, Le Roux, Jordan Willians and Minhyeok Yang have two.
Adrianj Segecic, Kosznovszky, Devlin, Josef Bursik and Makenzie Kirk have only been cautioned once this term.
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