Portsmouth boss' Marlon Pack selection admission as he faces anxious wait on scan results
Marlon Pack missed the Oxford opener through injury along with Josh Murphy
John Mousinho admits Marlon Pack was under consideration to start Pompey’s Championship opener against Oxford United.
Instead the Blues skipper was forced to watch from the Kassam Stadium stands as he awaits the scan results on a knee issue.
Mousinho's men kicked off the campaign with a 1-0 success at the U’s, with debutant Adrian Segecic netting a 38th-minute winner.
Pack had been ruled out earlier in the week, with the returning Colby Bishop taking over the captaincy and Andre Dozzell and John Swift forming the central midfield partnership for Saturday’s clash.
Certainly had he been fit, the veteran could well have been starting for the Blues, according to their head coach.
Mousinho: ‘100 per cent he would have been in the squad at least’
Mousinho told The News: ‘Marlon picked up a bit of a knee injury against Brighton under-21s and didn’t train for a couple of days, but was then okay after that.
‘He felt it again this week, with his knee swelling up. We were seriously considering starting Marlon for this game, but when we knew he had the injury, we decided to pull him out. He went for a scan on Friday and will get the results and see where he was at.
‘If Marlon was fit, he would 100 per cent would have been in the squad against Oxford, if not the starting XI.
‘He was okay last week, it was a strange one. He trained after the PEC Zwolle game on the pitch, we trained Monday and Tuesday. He felt it slightly on Wednesday and, on Friday in training, he said it was a little too much.
‘But we will see. Marlon could have stayed at home on Friday, but there was no chance that was happening, he was here with the squad and is massively influential, a big part of the club.
‘He was also there at Oxford, sitting just to the right of the bench.’
Despite the absence of Pack, Mousinho was delighted with the ‘aggressive and competitive’ nature of his team in their Oxford success.
Swift, making his Blues debut, operated in the number six role usually fulfilled by the skipper, while Dozzell operated a little further forward - with both to good effect.
There was also a four-minute cameo for Zak Swanson in the centre of the park, having replaced Swift, and he immediately impressed with his commitment and several crunching tackles.
‘The lads were competitive and aggressive’
Mousinho added: ‘They were a really, really tough thing to defend against. Will Vaulks had it for the first 69 minutes, then they brought Jack Currie on, who probably had an even longer throw.
‘With the height Oxford had in the side, we were slightly smaller than we were at times last year, particularly as you lose Fred (Potts) in the middle of the park, but we competed really well.
‘The lads were aggressive and competitive, we’ve still got enough height and physicality in the side to make sure we don’t concede from set-pieces.’