Both Regan Poole and Alex Robertson are forced to sit out the game at Fratton Park after they picked up yellow cards in Tuesday’s 2-1 win against Wycombe. Their bookings took their tally to the season to five apiece, which automatically comes with a one-match ban.
Their absences will come as a blow, especially with the Blues already missing Marlon Pack, following the ankle ligament injury he picked up at Wigan last weekend.
But it’s not the first time this term that head coach John Mousinho will have to reshuffle his pack for disciplinary reasons, with both Joe Rafferty and Joe Morrell already sitting out games for getting into trouble with referees.
Pompey will be keen to avoid such issues going forward, with the Blues currently top of the table and demonstrating promotion credentials.
However, bookings and sendings off are part ‘n’ parcel football and the Fratton Park outfit aren’t the only ones with players walking the disciplinary tightrope.
Indeed, there’s many clubs in the same position.
So here’s the latest top 20 ‘bad boys’ in the division, according to transfermarket.com, with a player handed one point per yellow card, three for each second yellow and five for a red.
1. Andy Yiadom (Reading) - 8 points
9 games played, 3 yellows, 0 second yellows, 1 straight red card. Photo: Ryan Pierse
2. Oliver Norburn (Blackpool) - 8 points
10 games played, 3 yellows, 0 second yellows, 1 straight red card. Photo: CameraSport/Blackpool Gazette - Lee Parker
3. Will Aimson (Exeter) - 7 points
11 games played, 2 yellows, 0 second yellows, 1 straight red card. Photo: Pete Norton
4. George Thomason (Bolton) - 6 points
8 games played, 6 yellows, 0 second yellows, 0 straight red cards. Photo: Clive Brunskill