Portsmouth thank Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy for Ronan Curtis permission

The winger pulled out of Republic of Ireland duty last Saturday night following the tight hamstring which ruled him out of the Blues’ trip to Doncaster.

A subsequent scan discovered no muscle damage, with Curtis today returning to training.

However, the Blues have been forced to seek permission from the Eire camp for the 23-year-old to be considered for Saturday's visit of Gillingham.

And Republic of Ireland boss McCarthy has delivered his blessing to Pompey's request.

Kenny Jackett said: ‘We have scanned it and there was no muscle damage, it was tightness and, as predicted, four or five days later he has been okay.

‘We communicated with those at Ireland and they are going to stick with the squad they have – and are happy for Ronan to be involved this weekend.

‘There is a rule that if they get selected by an international team, they are their players for that particular week.

'In circumstances like this, they are not necessarily going to use him, so you are going to ask the question and the ball is in their court.

‘We understand that and appreciate them allowing Ronan to play.

‘We would always want a good relationship with national managers and physios, hopefully continuing good lines of communication.

‘Our physio felt on Friday and Saturday last week that it wasn't too bad, but a tight hamstring is enough to keep you out of a game, which it obviously did last weekend.’