Jackett hails Pompey's captain courageous

The 29-year-old has broken his nose, while sports two black eyes, with large swelling underneath his right.

Pitman today sat out training and is not expected to return until Thursday, as he awaits for the facial injuries to clear.

However, Jackett insisted there was no danger of the Blues’ six-goal scorer being ruled out of the trip to Scunthorpe.

The skipper took a boot to the face from Fleetwood’s Cian Bolger while heading home the opening goal on Saturday.

And the Pompey boss paid tribute to his skipper’s determination to remain on the pitch and help inspire his team to a 4-1 triumph.

Jackett said: ‘Brett’s not had a scan or anything.

‘In terms of whether the nose is broken, it’s a little bit irrelevant I think. It’s the eyes, it’s the whole thing.

‘During the next 3-5 days it will improve rapidly.

‘It’s a bit sore at the moment. He did not train today, but can breathe okay – in a few days he will be okay.

‘There’s not going to be anything under his swelling, there is no danger there, he will be fine.

‘He showed his strength as a captain on Saturday. He didn’t want to come off the pitch and as the game wore on felt there were more goals there.

‘Some players would have come off – but I don’t want people who want to come off. I want them to meet the battle.

‘I understand if you have an injury and absolutely have to.

It’s like Oliver Hawkins, who has had a couple of cuts.

‘You need players with that type of commitment, otherwise you won’t get out of the division, you won’t be promoted.

‘You won’t be successful unless you have players that are as committed as that.

‘We left it as long as we could before substituting Brett, he said he was shattered.’

The former Bournemouth man has now netted six times in eight League One appearances for the Blues.

That impressive early return puts him joint-top of the divisional goal charts, alongside Kieffer Moore (Rotherham) and Jack Marriott (Peterborough).

In addition, Pitman possesses the leadership qualities which convinced Jackett to swiftly appoint him as skipper.

The Pompey boss added: ‘Obviously, Brett’s got a great goalscoring record – and also that experience above the level.

‘We haven’t got many players in our squad or team that do that.

‘Because of those qualities – and the fact I felt he could take on a goalscoring mantle at Portsmouth – I was very comfortable to make him captain.

‘He’s set some good standards, we can see the qualities he has.

‘The two goals on Saturday obviously made a big contribution towards the win.’