Portsmouth boss delivers worrying injury update ahead of Burton Albion after Oxford United loss

Mahlon Romeo and Kieron Freeman have been added to the injury list in the wake of Saturday’s late, late defeat at Oxford United.

Romeo missed the 3-2 loss at the Kassam Stadium as Danny Cowley’s men were floored by a stoppage-time goal from Karl Robinson’s men,

And he was joined on the sidelines by his replacement, Freeman, who was left both concussed and injured in the second half.

Pompey were afforded a concussion substitute for the first time, as Clark Robertson came on for the former Sheffield United man in the 60th minute.

Shaun Williams underwent a further scan last week after injuring his spine, which disclosed a further fracture with the former Millwall man expected to be out a minimum six weeks.

With Joe Morrell expected to serve a three-game ban for his dismissal in the first half, Cowley has serious selection issues to address ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Burton Albion with his squad of 20 players at present taking a battering.

Cowley said: ‘It looks like concussion for Kieron.

‘We don’t know as yet, but there’s obviously a protocol we would need to follow if it is.

‘The biggest problem is he’s turned his ankle, as the ball hit him.

‘We need to get him checked over and if it’s concussion we’ll follow the protocols in place.’

Cowley shook up his team selection at Oxford, making five changes from Monday’s defeat at Charlton.

Among the changes was Michael Jacobs, who was handed just his second league start of the season.

He rewarded Cowley with a man-of-the-match display, scoring his side’s first goal and creating the second for Ronan Curtis.

Cowley saluted Jacobs’ efforts, while the Pompey boss felt there were a number of stoic displays from his players as they battled with 10 men for 74 minutes - plus 10 minutes of stoppage time.

Cowley said: ‘Michael was excellent.

‘He gave us the goal and the assist for the second.

‘I thought in a tough game for him, because we didn’t have as much ball as we would have had with 11 players, I thought he was excellent.

‘Raggs, Hayden and Connor Ogilvie - wow I don’t know how many balls Connor headed out of our box.

‘There was some terrific performances so I’m disappointed, but proud of their efforts.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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