John Mousinho is anticipating further woe on the injury front - and according to Jordan Cross, that could leave Pompey exposed in one particular area

Pompey’s midfield runs the risk of being exposed if John Mousinho’s injury fears become reality.

The Blues boss is preparing himself for trouble ahead on the injury front after the international break, with Pompey scheduled to play eight times in 27 days, including their rearranged fixture against Wolves at Molineux on October 20.

The Fratton Park side already had eight players unavailable for Saturday’s home game at Blackburn Rovers. - a game that also saw Conor Shaughnessy limp off with a groin problem.

But Mousinho believes more could be seeking help from the medical team due to the relentless nature of the Championship immediately after its FIFA-enforced three-week break.

Injuries have, of course, impacted Pompey heavily throughout their Championship return and put a strain on a squad that has perhaps lacked the necessary depth to cope.

This summer saw the Blues attempt to address that with 12 new signings and approximately £10m spent on strengthening the head coach’s lot.

Six of those new arrivals came in to bolster Pompey’s attacking threat, which has been justified given current injuries to Josh Murphy, Keshi Anderson, Luke Brooke-Smith and Franco Umeh.

Yet that strategy runs the risk of leaving them vulnerable elsewhere if injuries are picked up along the way.

And according to The News’ Jordan Cross, central midfield is an area of particular concern.

Pompey ‘short’ of midfield quality

Pompey offset the departure of Andre Dozzell on a free transfer in the summer by signing Rocco Shein, Odin Bailey and Iyad Mohamed.

They added to a midfield department that already boasted 35-year-old Marlon Pack, Ebou Adams and John Swift.

Yet Cross believes midfield remains a weak spot that could be exposed by injuries.

Speaking on the latest episode of Pompey Talk, he said: ‘I think they're more likely to be exposed in certain areas (if injuries mount).

‘I think that's fair to say, and a big part of John's recruitment was to load up on the attacking wide areas, given what's happened in the past.

‘The fact that you've got off the top of my head, Anderson, Murphy, Luke Brooke-Smith, Franco Umeh all out, suggests that that was wise, doesn't it, to load up in attacking

‘(But) as I've said in previous Pompey talks, I think Pompey are short in the middle of midfield.

‘I think they're kind of light there in terms of quality. So, you could say that there's a suggestion that they could get exposed there.

‘I mean, Marlon Pack at 35, he's likely to play sixth game on the spin this weekend.

‘I don't think many people would have had that likely as being the case in terms of where Marlon's been in the past couple of seasons at times.

‘So, yeah, there are areas where Pompey look like they could still be exposed.

‘But John had to factor that into his thinking. You kind of go one lighter and one more in certain areas.

‘And he's obviously had to kind of cut his cloth, you know, to factor in the attacking, the winger issues. So he's had to kind of maybe leave himself maybe a little bit larger in other departments.’

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