'He's been a revelation': The fresh Portsmouth blow - and the challenge to fight on without him

Hayden Matthews’ season is now over. The Australian international is to undergo surgery on the damage to his right ankle sustained against QPR and will play no further part in Pompey’s remaining 11 matches.

With Rob Atkinson also sidelined for up to eight weeks with a calf injury and Conor Shaughnessy expected back in late April following a hamstring tear, centre-half numbers have been decimated.

That left Pack partnering Regan Poole in the centre of defence for Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Luton, ending a run of three straight wins.

Now Pompey’s skipper has challenged the squad with preserving their Championship status without the influence of Matthews.

Pack told The News: ‘Hayden has obviously been a revelation. We signed a young lad from the A-League and his performances have been outstanding.

‘You can see why we have ended up recruiting him as a player, so I’m really disappointed for him. The same for Rob, who has come in and gone under the radar a bit because he’s so solid.

‘He has come off the back of a big injury at Bristol City to get game time here and given us a real platform, especially at the back, to go on this decent run prior to Saturday.

‘Obviously Shocks as well. He’s worked so hard to get fit, but it has just been one of those seasons for him. When he hasn’t played, we’ve lacked that aerial threat defensively and also in attack. He’s a huge asset to us as a football team.

‘That’s now three centre-halves missing. We’ve gone from a case of having Shocks and Rob and being really strong in that position with Regan coming back, with Hayden on the bench and coming on.

‘It has been really disappointing for us, but one of those things this season. We’ve been really unfortunate with injuries, but it’s the next man up, everyone needs to stand up and now play their role until the end of the season.’

Jordan Clark’s 25th-minute goal settled Saturday’s Kenilworth Road encounter, having hit the Blues on the counter attack following a Josh Murphy free-kick.

It marked a swift return to the centre of defence for Park, who believed he had given up the temporary role at the end of January following the arrival of Matthews from Sydney FC.

The skipper added: ‘I’m disappointed more than anyone. As much as I want to play, I also want us to have our strongest team possible - and our strongest team possible is with one of those three guys playing at the back.

‘It’s a big blow for us all, but it’s about sticking together and making sure we stay around those injured lads - and vice versa for them to be in and around the group, in and around the training.

‘We must make sure that, as a collective, we do everything we can until the end of the season.’