The Blues were hit with the news this week that Callum Lang would be out for the remainder of the season. Lang has 10 goals and two assists in 29 games but a hamstring injury sustained in the 2-0 win against Oxford United means that he will be unable to add to that tally.
Thankfully, Pompey will be available to call upon the services of Kusini Yengi once again following a three-and-a-half-month lay-off due to a knee injury picked up on international duty with Australia. Yengi is out of contract at the end of the season and the challenge from manager John Mousinho to Yengi is to stay fit from now until the end of the campaign and help them stay up.
Karamoko Dembele is a player that is known very well to Pompey. He played against the Fratton Park club last season whilst on loan at Blackpool and was also a reported transfer target in the summer. The former Celtic prodigy instead signed with the Hoops and scored in the 2-1 defeat at Loftus Road back in October. Dembele has been sidelined since November with a knee injury which required surgery but is in contention to make an appearance at the weekend.
Pompey are looking for their first league double over QPR since the 1961/62 season. The West London club have a decent record at Fratton Park however having picked up three draws and one win since their last defeat which came there in August 1998. This is a big opportunity for Pompey to win three games in a row for the first time this season after recent successes against Cardiff City and Oxford.
QPR have a good record in 2025 though winning six of their nine games with only Leeds United, Sheffield United and Coventry City winning more points than them. The man to watch out for in the away ranks is Ilias Chair who has been directly involved in six goals in his last nine games, though he is yet to score on the road this term.
The mixed bag of injury news for Pompey means that players will have to get to life without their star man and now try and stake a claim in the starting XI. Here is the latest injury and team news from both camps ahead of kick-off.
Your next Pompey read: Pompey v QPR: Predicted line-up with calls to make as players return