Portsmouth boss reveals Conor Shaughnessy injury outlook and picture over Marezi involvement for Sheffield United
The latest on Conor Shaughnessy and Marko Milovanović’s availability for Wednesday’s clash with Chris Wilder’s side at Fratton Park.
Conor Shaughnessy was ‘nowhere near ready’ for south-coast derby involvement.
And the defender is ‘ very unlikely’ to be ready for a return from his groin injury for the clash with Sheffield United at Fratton Park.
Mousinho on Shaughnessy: ‘Nowhere near ready for Southampton game’
But Pompey boss John Mousinho revealed Marko Milovanović is set to build his injury comeback against the Blades on Wednesday night.
It’s shaping up into a significant early-season encounter against Chris Wider’s men, with the Blues going into the match a single point outside the bottom three after one win in six league games.
Pompey look like they won’t have Shaughnessy’s services for the game, however, after his setback in the draw with Blackburn Rovers before the international break.
When asked about the centre-back’s absence in the south-coast derby loss at Southampton, Mousinho said: ‘He’s okay, but he was just nowhere near ready for the Southampton game.
When asked further about his availability on Wednesday, the Pompey boss added to the BBC: ‘Very unlikely.’
Meanwhile, Milovanović ended a five-week stint without an appearance, after picking up a calf injury in the 2-0 win over Cardiff at the start of last month.
The high-profile summer signing’s Pompey career was gaining momentum, as he produced an impressive showing in the success against the Bluebirds.
But the injury slowed his progress, with the striker not able to find playing time across the international break as his side played Chelsea in a behind-closed-doors friendly.
Milovanović was introduced in place of Colby Bishop after 65 minutes, in his first action since his injury.
The challenge for the 23-year-old now is to build that time, after his capture for an initial £3m from UD Almeria.
Mousinho added: ‘Marko needs the minutes and wasn’t able to get many minutes over the break.
‘He’s back in now though and he’s had half an hour, so we’ll see how he settles down now off the back of that.
‘So he should be ready to be able to contribute more in terms of minutes.’