Portsmouth boss dealt huge injury blow as details emerge over midfielder's time on sidelines

The midfielder will undergo surgery tomorrow, after suffering a knee meniscus tear in the opening-day draw with Bristol Rovers.

It’s another setback for Lowery, who has been hampered by injury problems in his time at Fratton Park.

Pompey boss John Mousinho said: ‘It’s sort of what we expected - Tom is due for surgery on Thursday.

‘It’s a meniscus injury and it’s going to be anywhere from three to five months unfortunately - because they don’t know what it will be until they actually get in there.

‘It’s a real shame for Tom. He’s gutted but I think he was half expecting the news. It’s a real long-termer and real unfortunate.’

Lowery joined his team-mates in the dressing room after the win over Exeter City - and Mousinho explained every step will be taken to support the arrival from Crewe moving forward.

The Pompey boss underlined this new issue has no connection to the problems suffered by the 25-year-old last season.

He added: ‘Tom has picked up some muscular injuries in the past etc, but this is a meniscus tear and there’s nothing he could do about it. He’s gutted but will come back stronger.

‘It’s a blow, but he was there in the dressing room after the game. He’s a great character to have around the place.

‘He gave us a real lift at the end of last season, because everyone knows how good he is.

‘When he gets on the pitch he does good things because he’s an excellent player, so we’ll get around him and he’ll come back stronger.’