Bullish Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley undeterred by Ronan Curtis suspension for Rotherham game and provides update on injured trio

But he stressed he is not short of alternatives or formation ideas as he goes into the New York Stadium game with Irishman missing.

Curtis will serve a one-match ban at the weekend after accumulating five yellow cards, with his latest booking coming in the 4-0 win against Sunderland a fortnight ago.

It rules him out of the trip to south Yorkshire, but the Blues’ Republic of Ireland international should return for Tuesday night’s visit of Ipswich to Fratton Park.

Since the Black Cats game, Pompey’s fringe players have had opportunities to impress the manager and stake their claim for a starting place, with a behind-closed-doors friendly against Bournemouth followed by Tuesday’s Papa John’s Trophy defeat at the hands of Sutton United.

But while impressive performances were recorded against the Cherries, there was little to get enthused about following the U’s display.

Nevertheless, Cowley remains adamant he has options available to him.

He told The News: ‘I think we’ve got a number of options in terms of both personnel and system and it will be up to us to select the right decision on the day.

‘You never want to lose you’re key players but, ultimately, if you get five bookings by October then you are going to miss a game through suspension because that’s what the rules dictate.

‘And while that’s a negative, the positive is that it creates an opportunity for somebody else.’

Cowley will likely turn to either Reeco Hackett or Michael Jacobs to fill the void left by Curtis, while Louis Thompson could be an option.

Meanwhile, the depth of his squad will be tested further, with both Paul Downing and Ellis Harrison most likely to be unavailable for selection because of injury.

Downing suffered a hamstring setback against Sutton, while Harrison picked up an ankle problem.

The club are awaiting the results of their individual scans.

‘With Paul Downing and Ellis Harrison, we're waiting on the results of their scans,’ said Cowley.

‘We'll know more once we get the scan results back.’

In better news, Connor Ogilvie is in contention for the game against the Millers following a calf injury

Cowley added: 'Connor's under consideration for Saturday. He's trained fully with the group all week so that's a real positive for us.'