Portsmouth boss John Mousinho delivers Regan Poole latest as Blues suffer fresh injury blow
The central defender was forced off in the second half of Saturday’s 1-1 Ewood Park draw
John Mousinho is optimistic over the extent of the injury which forced Regan Poole off against Blackburn.
The central defender collected an ankle problem after colliding with Ebou Adams inside Pompey’s penalty area in the second half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Blackburn.
Following initial treatment, the 27-year-old returned to the pitch and attempted to carry on, only to swiftly indicate to the bench he needed to be substituted.
Poole was subsequently replaced in the 67th minute, with Conor Shaughnessy introduced having been sidelined for the last nine matches through injury.
And with the Blues next in action on Tuesday against Swansea (7.45pm), Mousinho is hopeful over the availability of the Wales international.
He told The News: ‘Regan collected an ankle injury after that collision with Ebou and tried to continue, but wasn’t able to.
‘It’s still too soon to know the extent of it, the match has only just finished. We will know more in a few days and get a clearer picture then.
‘The fact he was able to go back onto the pitch before deciding he couldn’t continue offers a little encouragement, so we’re seeing that as something to be optimistic about.
‘But I just don’t know at the moment. We’ll have a better understanding on Monday.’
Poole has played 34 times this season, demonstrating he is now over the injury issues which have blighted his Fratton Park career since joining in the summer of 2023.
Indeed, no player has started more than his 32 games in the Championship this season, with the ex-Lincoln man establishing himself as a pivotal presence in Mousinho’s side.
The scoreline was goalless when he was forced off, with Pompey’s head coach turning to Shaughnessy as his replacement, who himself returned to the squad at Blackburn for the first time since January.
A quad injury sustained at Sheffield Wednesday had ruled him out of the previous nine matches, yet he looked as assured as ever in his 23-minute cameo at Ewood Park on Saturday.
However, he was unable to prevent the Blues succumbing to Hayden Carter’s 93rd-minute leveller from Ryoya Morishita’s right-wing cross, thereby denying victory at the death.
That cancelled out Connor Ogilvie’s 84th-minute opener, much to the disgust of Mousinho, who was afterwards fuming over the Blues’ failure to collect a crucial victory over their relegation rivals.
The Poole blow comes at a time when Pompey are suddenly well-stocked for centre-halves as the injury problems in that particular position begin to ease.
They had three central defenders on the bench at Blackburn - Shaughnessy, Ibane Bowat and Madiodio Dia - while Hayden Matthews was omitted from the squad having been among the substitutes against Hull the previous weekend.