'I think 10 at the last count': Danny Cowley spells out Portsmouth injury situation ahead of Shrewsbury game - but fears that number could grow further

And the Blues boss confessed he feared that number could grow even higher because of the domino effect that amount of people requiring treatment can have on squad.

Pompey lined up against Oxford on Tuesday night without Marlon Pack (hamstring), Tom Lowery (hamstring), Joe Morrell (back), Louis Thompson (fractured leg), Joe Rafferty (stomach surgery), Michael Jacobs (hamstring) and Jayden Reid (ACL).

But with a game against Steve Cotterill’s Shrews less than 48 hours away, Sean Raggett (back), Ronan Curtis (dead leg) and Reeco Hackett (kick) are also now receiving medical help after picking up knocks in that battle with the U’s.

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Fringe players like Jay Mingi, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Zak Swanson have subsequently been called upon to help fill the sizeable voids left, despite having little game time under their belts this season to date.

But Cowley is concerned the recent workload placed on them could create even more problems.

The Blues’ game against Shrewsbury will be their third game in eight days, while next week sees Pompey host AFC Wimbledon in the Papa John’s Trophy (Tuesday) before heading to Hereford next Friday in the FA Cup.

Speaking about the current injury situation at a time when many are questioning the manager’s sketchy injury updates, Cowley said: 'We have a number of injuries, I think 10 at the last count, which means it's a really challenging moment.

'It's not easy, particularly in the centre of midfield.

'(The latest ones) I think they're all different injuries, all kind of contact injuries.

'Reeco had a kick, Ronan's is a dead leg and Sean landed and jolted his back.

'With those injuries there's not much we can do.

‘That is the nature of a competitive game, we see them on a weekly basis in League One, and we're hopeful that they overcome them.

‘But at the moment we're only 48 hours after the game and they're in the inflammatory period and we don’t know - that's the reality.

'We'll have to wait and see to how they settle down.’

Both Tunnicliffe and Mingi have got more League One match minutes in their legs this week than they have all season.

The chances are they will add to that against the Shrews, with Cowley remaining cautiously hopeful inroads are made on the injury front ahead of Saturday.

They’re availability has been a god-send.

But the manager claims that can have its pitfalls as well.

Cowley added: 'When you get injuries, you usually get this domino affect and this is probably why we're 10 deep now because you then have to start overplaying people.

‘They’re loads get big or their loads spike and these all kind of create the red flags that you try to avoid – but once you're in that vicious circle there's not much you can do.

'That's the reality of the situation and you have to dig deep, you have to find a way.

'I think the group showed a real resilience on Tuesday night against Oxford, they could easily have gone under at half-time, particularly when we didnt play well first half and we lose Sean Raggett who is another real key personality.

'But we didn't, we fought hard.’