Plymouth suffer double goalkeeper blow ahead of Portsmouth game that will give automatic promotion-chasers Ipswich, Derby and Bolton hope

No1 Mike Cooper – who is recognised by many to be best stopper in League One – is a serious doubt for the match against the Blues.

The 23-year-old picked up a knee injury during the Pilgrims’ 1-0 defeat at new league leaders Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend and was withdrawn just before half-time.

Meanwhile, fellow keeper Adam Parkes has a shoulder problem, which ended his loan stint at Southern League Premier South side Plymouth Parkway.

That leaves Plymouth boss Steven Schumacher with the relatively inexperienced Callum Burton as his only senior option for the key position, with under-18s stopper Zak Baker likely be on the bench.

Burton made his league debut for Plymouth when he replaced Cooper on 34 minutes at Hillsborough.

He kept a clean sheet during his 56 minutes on the pitch, which came after the Pilgrims suffered another injury blow – this time to key defender Dan Scarr, who was substituted on 14 minutes with a foot injury.

And while Schumacher has every confidence in his back-up option, the potential loss of Cooper for such an important game in their hunt for automatic problem will be a huge setback.

Indeed, the youth-team product faces the prospect of missing his first league game since the start of the 2020-21 campaign – a run that has seen him make 121 third-tier appearances.

He’s kept 11 clean sheets this season as Plymouth sit second behind Wednesday on goal difference, and is on course to repeat his 2021-22 League One Team of the Year nomination – an award he picked up last term at the expense of Gavin Bazunu.

Cooper suffered the knee injury when he landed awkwardly after being challenged by Owls forward Josh Windass.

Both he and defender Scarr will have their respective injuries scanned this week before Plymouth know the full extent of the damage.

Prior to his rare outing at Hillsborough, Barton had featured just nine times for the Home Park outfit following his free transfer move from Cambridge in 2021.

Nine of those have come in the Papa John’s Trophy, with the other being a 4-1 loss to Swansea in the League Cup.

Pompey had to field rookie stopper Josh Oluwayemi for their recent league game against Bolton following Josh Griffiths’ return to parent club West Brom.

However, Matt Macey has since joined on loan from Luton and is making an instant impression at Fratton Park.