Portsmouth injury news: Ronan Curtis to miss games against Peterborough, Barnsley, Plymouth and Burton - but ankle injury not as bad as first feared

Pompey boss John Mousinho has confirmed the winger will be out for weeks rather than months after he rolled his ankle in the latter stages of Tuesday night’s 2-0 win at Fleetwood.

The Irishman will see a specialist as a precaution, just to confirm there’s no concealed damage.

However, a three-week timeframe has been put on his recovery, with the Blues’ trip to Lincoln on February 18 the goal for a potential return.

That will see Curtis – who started his first game since New Year’s Day at the Highbury Stadium in midweek and produced a man-of-the-match performance – miss games crucial against Peterborough, Barnsley, Plymouth and Burton.

But that’s a positive, as far as Mousinho is concerned. He feared the worst after seeing the 26-year-old board the team bus for home on Tuesday night on crutches.

Revealing the latest on the injury, the Pompey head coach said: ‘He turned his ankle the other night.

‘It’s not quite as bad as we initially thought having seen him initially struggle to get off the pitch and then go home on crutches.

‘I think three weeks is probably a fair assessment of Ronan. I think he’s going to go for a scan just to make sure everything is intact in terms of the ligaments. The ankle is swollen, there’s a bit of bruising, it’s going to be painful and Ronan is obviously disappointed about that.

‘But we’ll get him back quick and there’s plenty of games to go this season.’

Despite the positive outlook, the injury represents wretched luck for Curtis, who is the Blues’ longest-serving player.

He never quite fired under Danny Cowley and, of his six goals this season, just one has arrived in the league.

Indeed, he has started just 11 games in League One this season and been moved around the team rather than utilised in his favoured role wide on the left.

However, the Republic of Ireland international appeared revitalised at Fleetwood, with a strong-running display which saw him hit the post in the second half.

Curtis, who is out of contract in the summer, has so far totalled 223 Pompey appearances, with 56 goals.