Portsmouth optimistic after Ellis Harrison's late Fleetwood withdrawal

The striker was forced out of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Fleetwood having suffered a reaction to his dead leg during the pre-match warm-up.

He had previously returned to training after sustaining the problem during Tuesday’s Leasing.com Trophy triumph over Exeter.

As a consequence, Harrison was named in Kenny Jackett’s starting XI at Fleetwood.

However, he pulled out just 10-15 minutes before kick-off, prompting a recall for Oli Hawkins, with Gareth Evans added to bench duty.

Now Jackett is seeking the all-clear for Tuesday evening’s visit of MK Dons.

Pompey’s boss said: ‘I don’t think it affected us at all, we basically started with the side which finished on Tuesday – and finished strongly at that.

‘It was a little bit of a surprise because Ellis trained on Friday – and in full training as well. He said he was okay.

‘But obviously it didn’t feel right in the warm-up and we reverted to the setup that was there on Tuesday.

‘He told us maybe 10-15 minutes before kick-off, at the end of the warm-up, so we had a quick rejig, but I don’t think it’s an excuse or threw us too far. It’s not like we’ve got to change formation or anyone doesn’t know their job.

‘We don’t want that to happen again with Ellis, hopefully it’s not too bad. We know it’s not a major problem, it’s a dead leg.’