Portsmouth v Cheltenham Town injury news as four ruled out and one doubt

Portsmouth are set to be without Tom Lowery for a while after finding out the full extent of his injury.

The 25-year-old is facing up to five months out with a knee meniscus tear for an injury he sustained against Bristol Rovers. Lowery was due for surgery this week and John Mousinho has placed a time frame of three to five months on him.

His injury has made Portsmouth begin talks with their sporting director about potential replacements. A list of targets are being drawn up, which is a change to Portsmouth’s transfer approach after Mousinho believed that their business was done.

Paddy Lane meanwhile was made available for selection again earlier this week but did not make the match-day squad against Exeter City. He had a foot injury against AFC Wimbledon, and spent the last three weeks on the sidelines, and sat out of the win against the Grecians on Tuesday.

Josh Dockerill is Portsmouth’s only other long-term injury concern after suffering an ACL injury in pre-season. Dockerill was hoping to make a push into the first-team before his plans were rocked with an injury.

Meanwhile for Cheltenham, they could hand a debut to Luciano D’Auria-Henry after joining on loan from Fulham. The wing-back signed earlier this week and is expected to be one of two signings for the Premier League side.

One of their loanees however Oli Hammond is a doubt for the trip. The 20-year-old was on the receiving end of a ‘really bad tackle’ and went for a scan to understand the severity of his injury. A few players have some normal bumps and bruises and will be closely monitored.

In other news James Olayinka is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after dislocating his shoulder. He came on as a substitute against Bolton, and suffered the injury.

He saw a specialist earlier this week and is expected to be out for a ‘substantial period of time’ whether he needs surgery or not. The 22-year-old had made two appearances for the Robins before suffering his injury.

There’s no specific time frame on George Lloyd, but he was described as being need to have an operation. The 23-year-old hasn’t made an appearance this term.

Another player that is likely to be out is Elliot Bonds. The midfielder is now having to rehabbing his knee after moving his patella. He had a serious ACL injury to contend with before but his current injury isn’t expected to rule him out like before.