John Mousinho provides key Portsmouth injury update ahead of south-coast-derby against Southampton
Pompey make the trip to St Mary’s this weekend as they lock horns with Southampton in the first south coast derby since 2019.
Pompey make the trip to St Marys this weekend as they lock horns with Southampton in the first south coast derby since 2019.
Marlon Pack has handed Pompey a huge injury boost ahead of their south-coast derby against Southampton.
John Mousinho has confirmed the popular skipper has returned to the fold ahead of schedule and could make a timely comeback for Sunday’s highly-anticipated fixture.
The 34-year-old is yet to appear for the Blues this term after sustaining a knee injury on the eve of the new campaign.
This has ruled Pack out for the opening five contests in all competitions after undergoing surgery following the curtain raiser against Oxford United.
A timeframe of around six weeks was identified as a suitable recovery and rehabilitation period following his operation - a stint on the sidelines that would rule the influential figure out of Pompey’s visit to Southampton.
And Mousinho has since confirmed the midfielder is back in contention and could make a timely return to face the Blues’ fierce rivals on Sunday.
Key Pompey injury update ahead of Southampton
The head coach said: ‘Marlon’s in contention, he’s been training so he should be fit and available for the squad.
‘We need to take a view of that on Saturday when we come back to train. That would be a good one and I think he’s come back ahead of schedule.
‘I think it will be a massive boost to have him back. He’s been a big boost in training this week. The interesting thing with Marlon is regardless of his fitness situation, he would’ve been with us on the bus on Saturday and then again on Sunday.
‘It's great to have him around the place, you may not have noticed but he was there up at West Brom. The one away game where we did miss him but it was really important for us that he was still around because he’s got such a big influence on the squad.
‘He is one of the players who have been here as a fan and has been part of the rivalry not as a player but defiant;y as a fan over the years. He knows exactly what it means and we could really lean into that.’
Pompey trio fine after lengthy international travel
Meanwhile, Hayden Matthews, Adrian Segecic and Luke Le Roux were all on international duty for both Australia and South Africa - although neither made an appearance whilst they were away.
Following their lengthy travel, Mousinho confirmed the trio weren’t in training today but made it clear there was nothing to be of concern.
‘They didn’t train today. Adrian (Segecic) and Hayden (Matthews) both flew in this morning so have been at the training ground but didn’t train. They arrived half-way through training.
‘Luke (Le Roux) got in a bit earlier but the same thing because of the length of flight we haven’t risked them.
‘It’s one of those where they need to get over the jetlag first before they can be involved in anything.’