Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett allays Ellis Harrison injury fears

The Blues boss revealed it was a dead leg which forced the striker off after 24 minutes of last night’s remarkable Leasing.com Trophy semi-final.

His replacement, John Marquis, headed home the winner on six minutes of time added on to overcome Exeter and send the Blues to Wembley on April 5.

Harrison was still limping heavily at the final whistle of the 3-2 success, although Jackett downplayed the seriousness of the issue.

And he expects the former Bristol Rovers man to be available for Saturday’s trip to Fleetwood.

Pompey’s boss said: ‘Ellis has a dead leg, he did try to run it off but it’s pretty apparent really he wasn’t going to do that and unfortunately had to come off.

‘I don’t think it’s too bad, though, we are hopeful he can be there at the weekend. We will see.’

Meanwhile, Marquis has now netted in successive appearances after entering as a substitute.

That’s a total of 13 goals this season – and Jackett was impressed how the striker linked-up with fellow sub Oli Hawkins.

He added: ‘Marquis and Hawkins played in an earlier round at Walsall and combined pretty well.

‘I do think there is a link-up there, which is good, even in quite a short space of time following the second-half substitutions.

‘When Oli was earlier around, it was a combination I used, and I wouldn’t hesitate to use again if I think it’s going to help us.’