Portsmouth handed Conor Shaughnessy injury boost amid double defensive joy
Conor Shaughnessy has endured two seasons of Championship injury woe, but is ready to hand his side a defensive fillip with Hayden Matthews.
Pompey are set for a significant double injury pick-me-up against Hull City next week.
Blues boss John Mousino has revealed League One title-winning hero Conor Shaughnessy is on course for a return to selection availability, for the Fratton Park clash with the Tigers.
Shaughnessy set for return - but Pompey to be cautious
And Shaughnessy is set to be joined by Hayden Matthews, who is ready to offer a much-needed boost to their squad’s massively stretched options.
Mousinho has made it clear Pompey will exercise caution over the centre-back’s return from a quad injury, picked up against Sheffield Wednesday last month.
That’s because of the nature of the 29-year-old’s issue, which arrives after a long line of fitness problems and missing three months of this term with a hamstring injury.
Matthews has been out since suffering an ankle injury at Bristol City on New Year’s Day, with Mousinho hopeful the Aussie can have an accelerated return to action for the Championship run-in.
He said: ‘Conor is aiming for Hull.
‘We probably feared the worst for Shaughs, but after the Sheffield Wednesday game we were looking to six to eight weeks.
‘So it’s about right, but we’ll be cautious with Shaughs definitely, because it’s a muscular injury.
‘We will be cautious with Hayden, too, but that was a contact injury he picked up.
‘Hayden has been unlucky, because he’s had a contact injury against QPR and a contact injury against Bristol City.
‘There was nothing he could’ve done, but it was a really poor tackle at Bristol City which went unpunished for some reason.
‘When you’re coming back from that kind of injury you can be a bit more aggressive, though.
‘By the time you get back to training, you don’t have to worry a huge amount about the areas which might break down.
‘That’s compared to Shaughs who’s had muscular injuries and you need to be more cautious.’
Matthews earmarked for return to full training
Mousinho explained Matthews hit a rehabilitation milestone today, as he joined in with his team-mates for part of their training session ahead of Saturday’s trip to Millwall.
With 13 players currently missing, the Pompey boss is hopeful that number can be reduced by a couple next week.
Mousinho added: ‘Hayden’s alright, we’ve got him pencilled in for Hull.
‘He joined in today for the passing drill and we will then get him up to full training next week.
‘He’s pretty much bang on time, we thought it’d be a bit worse when he initially when had the injury - but it’s not quite as bad as it was when he did it against QPR last year.
‘So I think, overall that will be eight weeks for him, which will be about right for by the time he’s back.’