Portsmouth suffer double injury blow in disastrous first half at Cardiff

Both Paddy Lane and goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid were forced off before the half-hour mark and with John Mousinho’s side already trailing 2-0 in the Welsh capital.

A Regan Poole own goal after six minutes and Callum Robinson’s tap-in at the far post after 13 minutes handed the visitors an automatic mountain to climb as two teams in the Championship relegation zone battled it out.

But that task got even bigger as Cardiff continued their dominance, with Lane pulling up with what looked to be a calf injury moments after the Bluebirds’ second goal. The forward, who was back in the starting XI after starting on the bench at QPR on Saturday, looked to run it off but was soon replaced by Kusini Yengi.

Schmid, who has started each game since the midweek thrashing at the hands of Stoke, was next to go down with what looked to be a head injury, It appears he made contact with Robinson while trying the prevent the hosts’ second goal. Like Lane, he attempted to play on but was substituted on the half-hour and replaced by Jordan Archer, who was handed in Pompey debut.

With the Blues going into the game without Will Norris, Conor Shaughnessy, Zak Swanson, Colby Bishop, Ibane Bowat and Jacob Farrell, the double injury blow was the last thing they needed.

There was further concern near the end of the first half, too, as Jordan Williams twice needed treatment for a hip injury after a collision with David Turnbull.

The first half ended with Wiliams remaining on the field and Cardiff unable to extend their early advantage. However, he didn’t appear for the second with as Terry Devlin came on in his place.

Christian Saydee was also introduced to the action for the start of the second half as he replaced the ineffective Elias Sorensen for Pompey’s fourth substitution of the game.