'We've got to protect him from himself': Portsmouth boss details skipper's ongoing injury concern ahead of Lincoln trip

While Di’Shon Bernard faces a late fitness test once more ahead of Saturday’s trip to Lincoln.

According to the Blues’ head coach, Pack is currently nursing an ongoing knee problem which can flare up unpredictably.

The issue kept him out of Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over Burton and raises questions over his Sincil Bank participation.

Nonetheless, Mousinho insists it’s a lingering injury being assessed day-to-day by Pompey’s medical team and the skipper remains under consideration for first-team duty.

He told The News: ‘It’s day-to-day with Marlon at the moment.

‘We are monitoring that knee and just seeing how it improves, hopefully he will be available for the weekend.

‘It’s an old one that sometimes flares up. Despite the sheer volume of games we’ve had and the physicality of those matches, sometimes we can get away with it and there is absolutely not a problem.

‘It’s just that, on occasion, he needs a slight bit of rest, as it did on Tuesday. We are managing that and making sure we protect him.

‘Marlon is very keen to get out there and play, he was even keen to play on Tuesday night. It was the right decision in the end because he was slightly different from how he was on Saturday when we knew he was ready to play.

‘So we’ve just got to protect him from himself for a bit, making sure he is right and doesn’t do anything that's going to jeopardise his future athleticism.

‘Marlon is able to play three games in a week. If you look at the first week I was here, Exeter, Fleetwood and Peterborough, he started all those without any problems.

‘That's why I say sometimes it’s one of those things that flares up on a Monday morning. There’s not necessarily any rhyme or reason to it, that’s why it’s a bit day-to-day and you have to manage it.’

Along with Pack, Bernard also missed the late triumph over the Brewers.

In his absence, Joe Rafferty made his long-awaited first-team comeback after being sidelined since early September.

With Zak Swanson still out injured, it throws up an intriguing right-back selection dilemma between the pair.

Mousinho added: ‘With Di’Shon, it looks like we’re going to have another fitness test before the game to see how he is.

‘And, all being well, he can train and be involved at the weekend.

‘It’s essentially just a case of him managing the muscular injury he has on a hamstring, so just a bit of tightness in there. It’s nothing to be too worried about.’