Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett weighs up international postponement against Oxford

Although the Blues boss insists he will leave it late before deciding whether to fulfil the March 28 fixture.

Potentially, Pompey could be without Ross McCrorie, Ronan Curtis and Craig MacGillivray for the trip to the Kassam Stadium to face their promotion rivals.

McCrorie has already been called up to Scotland under-21s, while Curtis (Republic of Ireland) and MacGillivray (Scotland) have been named in provisional squads.

Should all three be included in forthcoming internationals, the Blues can postpone their Oxford clash – but Jackett’s preference is to play.

He said: ‘McCrorie is nailed on, while Ronan and Craig are in provisional squads.

‘Ryan Williams was also in a provisional squad for Australia, but they have now cancelled those games.

‘Should all three be called up, we have a decision to make. We don’t want to cancel, we would prefer to be able to play the game.

‘We have until the Sunday before that Oxford match to decide, so I can phone a couple of international managers after the weekend when they will know of their injury situation.

‘I will assess it, see where my players are in the pecking order, speak to one or two people and make a decision. If I can, I would prefer to play.

‘We have April 28 as an available midweek date, but I suppose that could all change as well.

‘We will see on that Sunday where we are, there’s no point playing should we have a too weakened team.’