Portsmouth reeling from fresh injury blow - with new signing poised for instant introduction
The in-form Northern Ireland international has started the League One leaders' last 10 league matches
Pompey could turn to new signing Josh Martin for attacking inspiration after suffering an injury blow.
Paddy Lane has been diagnosed with a torn calf after the problem prompted him to leave Northern Ireland’s training camp last week.
The issue initially flared up during the Blues’ draw with Charlton, forcing the 22-year-old off in the 87th minute when his side were winning 2-1.
John Mousinho has ruled him out of Saturday’s encounter with Blackpool, ending a run of 10 successive League One starts for the in-form winger.
And according to Pompey’s head coach, Lane is expected to be sidelined for up to two weeks.
Mousinho told The News: ‘Unfortunately Paddy pulled out of the Northern Ireland squad and, on Monday, had a scan on his calf, which revealed a minor tear.
‘It’s highly unlikely he will feature at the weekend. It shouldn’t be too long that he’s out but it’s slightly precautionary, we are looking at a couple of weeks.
‘He felt it towards the back of the Charlton game and thought he’d cramped up in his calf. We ended up bringing him off and didn't see that being an issue, so he flew away with Northern Ireland.
‘Unfortunately the scans revealed a little minor tear, so we have to be careful.
‘It’s a bit of a blow not having him available, but it’s one of those things we have to get on with. Thankfully it’s nothing too major.’
Lane’s anticipated absence puts Martin in the frame for the right wing, after last week joining on a short-term deal.
The 22-year-old hasn’t played a competitive match since February, when handed nine minutes off the bench against Derby during a loan spell with Barnsley.
Mousinho added: ‘We have plenty of options, that is probably Abu’s natural position, obviously we have Gavin Whyte, while Josh Martin is coming into the fold now.
‘We brought Josh in off the back of the Tino Anjorin injury, but we have cover there as well so there’s plenty of options in terms of what we can do on the right.
‘That’s the whole point of having a squad and making sure we have players that rotate around that spot.’