Portsmouth skipper potential U-turn as John Mousinho agonises over Conor Shaughnessy alternatives

That’s according to John Mousinho, who also puts Hayden Matthews, Ryley Towler and Regan Poole in the frame for Oxford United and beyond as he plots to cope without the inspirational Irishman.

Following a scan on Shaughnessy’s injured hamstring on Thursday afternoon, the Blues were today hoping to receive the results to clarify the extent of the damage sustained against Cardiff.

It was only his fourth game back - and third start - having spent the previous six months ruled out through persistent calf problems.

Now Mousinho must identify a stand-in - starting with Saturday’s trip to the Kassam Stadium (12.30pm).

He told The News: ‘Conor has been excellent, he’s certainly solidified the defence, looking very comfortable, very aggressive, and we are gutted to have lost him.

‘We have plenty of options. There’s Hayden, Marlon has obviously played there, we have Ryley as well, Regan is coming back from injury and Conor Ogilvie can play at centre-half as well.

‘I’ve spoken before about Marlon dropping back in there and how well he’d done. He made a big contribution towards us picking up points over the last two months, he did a fantastic job.

‘It was just one of those that, as soon as we had Conor back, we wanted to get a natural centre-half in there.

‘Hayden has adapted well, I don’t see a player out of place. He was chucked straight into it against Millwall, one of the more physical sides in the league, and handled it really well.

‘As for Regan, he trained fully on Thursday. Whether the weekend is too soon for him, I don’t know. If he’s not available, then it’s the QPR game.’

Pack recently stood down from defensive duties for Burnley’s visit following 15 successive league appearances in a role unfamiliar to him.

Ogilvie has started 32 matches at left-back this season, although the transfer window arrival of Cohen Bramall now gives Mousinho the option to put the long-serving defender in at centre-half.

Yet Hayden Matthews could be the preferred choice, having come off the bench to deputise for Shaughnessy from the 60th minute in Tuesday night’s 2-1 success over Cardiff.

The Australian has now made four appearances - three of which from the bench - since joining from Sydney FC in a £1.2m deal.

Mousinho added: ‘Hayden was really good against Cardiff. He looked sharp and covered the channels a couple of times really well.

‘You saw an example of his athleticism when we countered and got on the end of his own header after defending a deep free-kick. It resulted in a very good opportunity for us on the break.

‘He was unlucky to lose his place in the side after Millwall, we thought the best thing to do was bring Shocks back in. But we are very, very excited to have Hayden in the building.’