John Mousinho gives Portsmouth team selection hint ahead of Sunderland with injury update

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John Mousinho hopes to have Conor Shaughnessy back in his starting line-up for Sunderland’s visit to Fratton Park.

However, the Pompey boss doesn’t foresee circumstances that will allow him to select any of the other six first-team squad members who missed Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough through injury or ill health.

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That includes Regan Poole (ACL), Tom McIntyre (hamstring), Jacob Farrell (knee), Tom Lowery (hamstring), Josh Murphy (ankle) and, of course, Colby Bishop, who recently underwent heart surgery. Gavin Whyte was not selected for the trip to the Riverside Stadium.

Loanee Sammy Silvera will be available after he sat out the game against his parent club. Meanwhile, recent signings Freddie Potts and Mark O’Mahony are also in contention to feature against the Black Cats, having arrived earlier this week.

That gives Mousinho some much needed options heading into his side;s final game before the international break, with teenager Harry Clout named on the bench for the second week running against Boro.

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But while centre-back Shaughnessy is anticipated to feature against Regis Le Bris’ current unbeaten Championship table-toppers on Saturday, the West Brom game on September 15 is a more realistic target for McIntyre, Farrell, Lowery and Murphy.

Speaking ahead of the Sunderland game, Mousinho said: ‘He (Shaughnessy) is fine. Shaughs has recovered very quickly from the illness that kept him out. There’s a couple of knocks and bruises that he’s got but we’re hopeful that he’ll be back for the weekend.’

The head coach added: ‘I don’t think anyone else is going to be back in contention for the weekend. It’s going to be a step too soon.

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‘What we have to do is be practical about the way he approach things because of the fact we’ve got two weeks after Sunderland to really get everyone in a really solid position.

‘We don’t want to hold players back for the sake of it, also with the likes of Josh Murphy, Jacob Farrell and Tom McIntyre, they should all be back in time for that West Brom game and it’s wise to give them that extra bit of breathing space.

‘None of them are actually training so far anyway, so we’re probably going to move them out (on the grass) at the weekend.’

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Mousinho also provided an update on Poole’s rehabilitation from the ACL injury he picked up against Chesterfield in the FA Cup last November.

He said: ‘Regan has been back in training, he’s probably done about a full week’s worth of training.

‘I still think he’s 4-5 weeks away from being available for selection because of the length and severity of the injury, and the fact that we need to make sure he’s up to scratch, not with the knee, the knee’s fine, but just making sure everything else around that is strong.’

‘So really positive on that, but we’ve still got time to go.’

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