Danny Cowley offers update on Portsmouth's forgotten man and ex-Sunderland full-back sidelined for five months

And there’s encouraging news on the availability of Joe Morrell, who has also yet to feature this season.

It has been five months since Hume last represented the Blues in their 1-0 defeat at Plymouth in March.

A back problem has subsequently sidelined the January window capture from Sunderland, who has made just nine appearances so far.

Joining him out of action at present are Clark Robertson (foot), Jayden Reid (hamstring) and Morrell (groin).

In addition, Ryan Tunnicliffe (hamstring) has been missing of late, while Connor Ogilvie didn’t face Cardiff on Tuesday night as a precaution.

Cowley told The News: ‘Denver’s back on the grass and training. I would hope he’d return in the next couple of weeks.

‘Clark is a little further down the line, but Jayden Reid is probably the furthest away, maybe four weeks.

‘Joe Morrell has made unbelievable progress in 23 days since having a groin operation.

‘He’s back at 80 per cent of his maximum and will this week start to bring in some change of direction and ball work.

‘We’ve had key injuries to some boys that you’d anticipate challenging for the starting XI.’

Despite those injury concerns, Pompey still managed to achieve a Carabao Cup upset by triumphing 3-0 at Cardiff.

The trip to the Championship side also marked the debuts of recent recruits Owen Dale and Tom Lowery.

Dale featured for 63 minutes on the right wing, before replaced by Reeco Hackett, while Lowery appeared as a half-time substitute.

Cowley added: ‘With Owen Dale coming in, you can see how fizzy he’s going to be for us.

‘Tom Lowery was a substitute and we’re going to really enjoy him, that’s for sure.

‘Tom worked on his own at the training ground on Saturday, then trained with us for the first time on Monday. That was also his first session of the pre-season.

‘So for him to come through 45 minutes against Cardiff is a credit to him.

‘Having said that, he blew the fitness test up when he did his medical! In the aerobic capacity test we carried out, he ran the furthest, so obviously he’s really been looking after himself.

‘Owen is a bit further down the line because he’s been playing games for Blackpool in pre-season, so it was safe for him to start at Cardiff.’

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