.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=70&enable=upscale)
Pompey make one of their longest trips of the season as they face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the EFL Championship on Sunday.
John Mousinho's men will be looking to follow up their 4-0 win against Swansea City on New Year's Day. The win moved them out of the relegation zone with Hull City suffering a late defeat to Middlesbrough, and Cardiff City drawing with Coventry City.
Sunday's opponents Sunderland made a statement as they beat Sheffield United. Kieffer Moore had a penalty saved by Anthony Patterson as Eliezer Mayenda and Wilsor Isidor were both on target for the North East outfit.
The win over the Blades put them to within two points of the Blades prior to Saturday's round of fixtures. At the bottom, it's relatively close between Pompey and their relegation rivals.
Earlier on in the season, Pompey and Sunderland met on the South Coast, with the Black Cats claiming a 3-1 win. Zak Swanson's own goal broke the deadlock in the first half, and then Alan Browne and Romaine Mundle scored within five minutes of each other to make for a commanding lead. An own goal from Luke O'Nien in stoppage time acted only as a consolation for Pompey.
A lot was said about Sunderland’s injury situation leading in to their win against Sheffield United and they’re still navigating through things now. Salis Abdul Samed and Ahmed Abdullahi are still awaiting their debuts, and manager Regis Le Bris has given an indication as to when they could make their first-team bows.
The festive period has been relentless for all clubs across the Football League with a large amount of matches scheduled over a short amount of days. Here The News compiles the latest injury news both on Pompey and Sunderland.
5. Ibane Bowat - out
Picked up a knee injury in training back in September. Out for the season having not made his debut. | Portsmouth FC
6. Conor Shaughnessy - out
Still a couple of weeks off of full training. Pompey will be cautious with him to avoid him picking up any setbacks. Photo: Jason Brown
7. Regan Poole - out
He remains sidelined with a calf issue. Suffered a hamstring injury that would keep him out for a couple of weeks, and was due to return from it around now. | Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
8. Regan Poole and Conor Shaughnessy - out (continued)
John Mousinho said on January 2: I’ve put timescales on the pair of them before and it hasn’t actually worked out to be the case, so I’m sort of reluctant to do that again. "But we’re making sure we’re pushing them as hard as we possibly can to get back into the side without risking anything. ‘I would expect them to be back by the end of January (though)." | National World