Cheer up: Portsmouth cavalry are here to rescue Championship's joint-leakiest defence alongside Cardiff and Bristol City

Then again, fielding three different central defensive partnerships in the opening five league matches is hardly conducive for maintaining clean sheets, particularly when faced with so many of the division’s leading lights during early fixtures.

Irrespective of whether wretched luck, the training ground or injury-prone players is to blame, John Mousinho’s team selection at the heart of defence has been devastated and his game plan suffered.

Certainly the Blues’ head coach couldn’t have foreseen fielding his new right-back and fourth-choice centre-half as the partnership for two of their Championship fixtures so far.

Pompey operated with five different double acts during their League One title-winning season - and one of those was in the final match at Lincoln when Mousinho wanted to assess Ryley Towler alongside Conor Shaughnessy.

This season he has already employed three different league centre-half pairings by mid-September, yielding 11 goals.

Only Bristol City and Cardiff can match that unwanted statistic - and unsurprisingly all three clubs occupy the bottom eight places in the table.

For any criticism of Pompey defensively so far this season, including six goals conceded in the last two Fratton Park fixtures, the infuriating injury issues must be taken into mitigation.

Even a player recruited on deadline day from Fulham to provide another option, Ibane Bowat is now out for six months after suffering a knee injury while shooting in training.

Clearly the availability of Shaughnessy, Regan Poole and Tom McIntyre would considerably strengthen Mousinho’s back line - and how they are desperately required.

Shaughnessy’s ongoing calf issue has generated fantastic conspiracies, although the club initially voicing his Middlesbrough absence was down to illness has hardly helped the situation.

The Irishman returned to training on Wednesday last week, yet, by the following day, he was still feeling it, thereby scuppering tentative plans for a Sunday comeback.

Whether there has indeed been a disagreement between Mousinho and the player handed a new three-year deal in the summer - which both strongly deny - it has absolutely no relevance to an absence purely dictated by injury.

At least McIntyre is now back, partnering Jordan Williams in the centre of defence against West Brom to maintain the right and left foot balance, with Towler dropping to the bench.

The former Reading men’s first outing since breaking his ankle 54 minutes into his February debut was an encouraging reintroduction, having recovered from a torn hamstring sustained in July against Wycombe.

Although McIntyre’s heartening comeback was topped by the sight of the classy Poole replacing him in the 76th minute for a welcome return after 10 months sidelined by an ACL injury.

It’s common sense that, following such a lengthy lay-off, he wasn’t thrown in to start the fixture. Likewise, the Welshman will need more match minutes to build up, hence the arranging of a behind-closed-doors friendly against the Hawks.

Whether Mousinho would next risk Poole in his starting line-up in a tough trip to Burnley remains to be seen. Likewise, whether Shaughnessy is also ready to return is unclear at this stage.

Should either be given the green light, potentially alongside McIntyre, it would represent a staggering fourth centre-half partnership in the opening six matches of the season.

And, on this occasion, not a single member of the Fratton faithful would complain.