Ellis Harrison injury exposes Portsmouth's lack of firepower on transfer deadline day

But just 24 hours later and that relative unease has escalated.

If a fashionable tiered system was introduced simply on the Blues’ forward choices, then it would have jumped from a ‘medium’ level of worry to ‘very high’.

An injury to Ellis Harrison in the turgid 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Doncaster Rovers will have been the main contributor to that reclassification.

But another insipid attacking display will not have gone unnoticed either.

Not for the first time this season, Pompey looked toothless as an attacking threat.

Six games into the new campaign, their goal tally of seven leaves a lot to be desired.

Especially when four of those came in victory at Burton.

The departures of both Oli Hawkins and Brett Pitman during the summer necessitated the need for at least another body in that area.

There was enough coming out of Fratton Park to suggest that it was under control, and that a young, pacey front man – perhaps from a Premier League club – would be added to provide something different to that of Harrison and John Marquis.

Young Wolves striker Niall Ennis was a name that kept cropping up, while there was initial interest in Gillingham’s Brandon Hanlon.

Both, however, are now elsewhere after sealing moves to Burton and Bristol Rovers respectively.

There were bound to be others that remained under the media’s radar, with Saturday’s disappointing Donny performance not the only indicator that something extra was needed.

But why nothing materialised remains unknown.

Manager Kenny Jackett admitted he was happy with what he had in the build-up to Friday’s deadline, pointing out that both Ronan Curtis and Marcus Harness provided depth to his central-attacking options.

They can fill the void, we are told, if needs be.

But at present they can hardly deliver the goods in the positions they’re more accustomed to.

Harness’ brilliant hat-trick in that 4-2 win at Burton suggested he was now ready to be the Blues’ main man going forward.

He’s, unfortunately, struggled to find the back of the net ever since, though.

Meanwhile, Curtis – who was substituted for a second successive match after being benched for that win at Albion – continues to struggle to find form.

That’s a massive worry in it’s own right.

Hope, therefore, rested on the shoulders of Harrison, with Marquis also struggling this season.

We’d all like the front man to add more goals to his game, with two in seven appearances so far this season.

However, he makes up for that in his ability to provide a focal point to attacks.

That was again evident on Saturday, with the former Ipswich man throwing himself about against Doncaster and appearing to be Pompey’s glimmer of hope the longer the game remained goalless.

So to see him limp off at a time when his consistency stands out above others represents a huge blow.

Who will step up to the plate now if his injury keeps him out? Who is going to keep opposition defenders on their toes? Who’s going to lead the line and give us hope that Burton isn’t going to be a one-off?

At present, it’s Marquis. There’s no-one else after all.

But he’ll need to rediscover his confidence in front of goal if the Blues’ lack of depth isn’t going to be exposed further.

These are worrying times.

And you just wonder if there’s regret in that failure to bring in a fresh attacking face when there was the ability to do so.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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