Portsmouth injury news: Blues hopeful on midfield trio, winger has operation, while forward is a doubt for Morecambe

Pompey will travel to Morecambe on Saturday with Danny Cowley expected to enjoy the benefits of some swollen midfield ranks.
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But Ronan Curtis is a doubt for the trip to the Mazuma Stadium following the ankle injury he picked up in last week’s FA Cup win at Hereford.

A picture of the Irishman’s swollen ankle emerged on social media after the first-half challenge by Bulls defender Jack Evans.

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Cowley is hopeful he’ll be fit to face the Shrimps as Pompey return to League One action – but will leave it late before making a decision.

While Curtis is a maybe to face Morecambe, there’s a belief the Blues midfield could have Marlon Pack, Tom Lowery and Joe Morrell all vying for a starting place against Derek Adams’ side.

Cowley hasn’t had such a luxury since mid-September, with all three enduring periods out of the team through either injury or illness.

But after Lowery made his comeback appearance at Hereford, coming on as a second-half substitute following a hamstring complaint, he could now be joined in the first-ranks again by Pack – who suffered a similar problem and has been absent since Pompey’s 3-0 defeat at Charlton on October 17.

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Meanwhile, World Cup-bound Morrell is available again after a sickness bug. He could feature before jetting off to Qatar next week with Wales.

Marlon Pack has sat out Pompey's past five games because of injury and suspensionMarlon Pack has sat out Pompey's past five games because of injury and suspension
Marlon Pack has sat out Pompey's past five games because of injury and suspension

That represents good news – as does Cowley’s update on long-term injury duo Joe Rafferty and Jayden Reid.

The manager said the former was recovering well after his groin operation on Monday.

And he revealed that Reid had finally gone under the knife on the ACL injury he picked up in training last month.

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Speaking about Pompey’s current injury situation ahead of the trip to Morecambe, Cowley said: ‘Good news first, we've got one or two back training with the group and available for the weekend, which is great news.

‘Joe Rafferty had his operation on Monday – another groin operation.

‘We felt for Joe during that period when the realisation sets in that you need another operation.

'It's tough for any professional footballer, but he's in much better spirits post-op and now there's a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel for him.

'And Jayden Reid, he's literally just been texting me.

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‘He’s out of theatre now after an operation on his ACL this morning and he's focused on trying to get back fit as quickly as he can.

‘We’re all with him. He's a really important member of our group.

‘We all felt his pain, but he got through it once and he’ll get through it again.

'We’re just super excited to watch him come back and show everyone what we know – that he's a really good player.’

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When asked about Curtis’ injury, the manager said: 'Ronan is an incredibly robust boy.

'He did the injury in the 20th-minute and it was quite a nasty one.

'’His ankle was pretty swollen after but for him to play another 40 minutes says a lot about Ronan.

'He's got incredible courage.’