'It’s definitely something' - Portsmouth boss provides team selection hint for Cambridge visit as he looks to keep advantage over Derby, Bolton and Peterborough

John Mousinho is contemplating freshening up his starting XI for Cambridge United’s trip to Fratton Park on Tuesday night.

The Pompey boss insisted it’s the logical thing to do given the Blues’ long trip to Carlisle United on Saturday.

Pompey are currently operating with a reduced squad at present, with eight senior first-team players forced to sit out Saturday’s 1-0 win at Brunton Park through injury.

None of those players currently in the treatment room are available for the visit of the 16th-placed U’s to PO4, with Zak Swanson - the closest to making a comeback - still not deemed fit enough for match-day selection.

So in a bid to keep things fresh and maintain a five-match unbeaten run that has allowed Pompey to stretch their lead at the top of League One to six points, the head coach has admitted some rotation could be in order against Neil Harris’ side.

Follow the latest from Pompey with The News’ free football emails The Blues were able to introduce Abu Kamara, Jack Sparkes and Owen Moxon from the bench on Saturday, while the likes of Kusini Yengi and Josh Martin remained unused. Anthony Scully, Gavin Whyte and Christian Saydee also failed to make the match-day squad. That demonstrates the strength in depth Pompey still possess - and utilising his squad is something Mousinho feels comfortable with.

‘I think it’s definitely something we’re going to bear in mind, with the hectic schedule and obviously the travel we had at the weekend,’ said the Pompey boss.

‘There were probably a few tired legs towards the back end of the game on Saturday so the benefit of having that squad and the benefit of making the changes that we’ve made is that we can look at the game on Tuesday night and maybe rotate a couple of players.

‘It’s certainly an option for us and one we should be using. I think this is probably the last midweek game until Burton. Everybody is fully aware that we’ve played more games than most sides at this level, so we’ve got a decent enough run, but it still gives us a good opportunity to rotate.’

Kamara’s introduction to the action on 57 minutes on Saturday certainly proved decisive, wth the on-loan Norwich man setting up Paddy Lane for the only goal of the game on 62 minutes. 

That was the second game in a row the highly-rated forward had started on the bench. However, there’s a good chance the loanee will find himself back in the starting XI against Cambridge.

Mousinho added: ‘He had a spell, obviously, out of the starting line up. It was nothing to do with performances, it was us just trying to rest Abs and making sure he was good for the run-in over the back end of the season.

‘He had played game,  after game, after game, hardly ever came off, hardly ever had a break, so it was nice to give him that break and nice of him to come on and look really fresh at the weekend. He’s definitely in contention for tomorrow.’