Portsmouth man suffers loan setback in bid to get his injury-blighted career back on track since Blackburn exit

The central defender last month moved to Rochdale on loan for the remainder of the season to aid their League Two relegation battle.

It effectively brought an end to a disappointing Fratton Park career, with his contract scheduled to expire this summer.

However, following a bright start to his time at Rochdale, Downing has been sidelined by injury.

After starting five successive matches, he was forced off in the 72nd minute of a 2-1 defeat at Forest Green earlier this month.

The groin problem has subsequently ruled him out of their last two games, including Saturday’s 2-1 win at Scunthorpe, which lifted them into 17th.

Dale manager Robbie Stockdale anticipates the 30-year-old’s absence to continue for ‘a couple of weeks at least’.

It is more wretched luck for Downing, who made just 27 appearances for Pompey after arriving in the summer of 2019 from Blackburn with high hopes.

He featured just four times this season, before loaned to Rochdale during the January transfer window.

Rochdale boss Stockdale told the club website: ‘It’s kind of what we suspected. The injury is a little bit different to what a normal groin injury would be.

‘He’s still fairly sore and will probably be a couple of weeks at least, I’d say, from now.

‘That’s obviously a blow, because I think everybody can see what Paul has brought not only to the team, but the environment as well.

‘We’ve got a very calming figure that looks a class act on the pitch, but acts like a class act off it as well.

‘I’m going over old ground, but the January window was important for me to try and bring some characters in like that, and even though he’s not available on the pitch, he only adds to what we’ve got.’

Downing’s most recent Pompey outing was as a late substitute in November’s 1-0 win at Wycombe.

Unfortunately, he sustained a calf problem during that cameo, then forcing him on the sidelines for a short period of time.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can support our local team of expert Pompey writers by subscribing here for all the latest news from Fratton Park for 9p a day, thanks to our 30%-off transfer window deal.