LATEST: Fitness update on Portsmouth talisman with fears of ex-Wigan Athletic, Wolves and Derby County facing another lay-off

And John Mousinho has targeted keeping the Blues’ attacking talisman fit and firing on all cylinders for the rest of the campaign.

Jacobs missed out at Fleetwood on Tuesday night, after starting the first game of the Mousinho era against Exeter last weekend.

The fear was the 31-year-old had suffered a knee injury, which would lead to another stint on the sidelines.

But a scan returned positive news and Jacobs is in contention, as Pompey go to London Road this weekend.

Mousinho said: ‘Michael was injured on Tuesday. He took a knock on the back of his knee.

‘He had a fitness test at the hotel and it didn’t quite feel right.

‘So he had the scan and there were some worries around the bottom of the hamstring.

‘It was one where it was very difficult to tell, but he's back training.'

Jacobs has endured more than his share of injury setbacks at Pompey, since arriving from Wigan in September 2020.

His talent and importance to the team has been evident whenever the winger has been able to put a run of games together.

Mousinho is acutely aware of what the former Wigan, Wolves and Derby man brings to the table.

The challenge for the new head coach is to ensure Pompey can get the maximum benefit from that quality over the second half of the season.

Mousinho added: ‘I know Michael really well from playing against him a number of times.

‘He was in that really, really good Wolves side which dropped into League One and went straight back up.

‘He also played for Wigan when they got promoted, and I was on the end of a 7-0 at the Kassam with Michael in that side.

‘So I know he has real quality, and he’s up there in this league in terms of his contributions and how effective he can be.

‘He’s something we’ve got that is different. I’m really looking forward to working with him and keeping him fit and firing.’