Worst fears now confirmed in cruel injury blow for Portsmouth's Alex Bass after Southend comeback

And the keeper is expected to be sidelined for another six week as he attempts to recover from the injury for a second time in two months.

Bass sustained a hairline fracture of his lower leg during a training ground challenge with Haji Mnoga at the start of January.

He returned to action and was last weekend was loaned to Southend in an emergency arrangement.

However, the 22-year-old was forced off at the interval of their League Two encounter with Salford.

Now tests have confirmed fears he has another break in the same area – and he looks set to miss another six weeks.

Jackett said: ‘It’s a similar problem, a hairline fracture of the same foot, unfortunately.

‘It was very innocuous, Alex jumped for a ball with nobody near him and not under pressure. He took an easy catch and, when putting that particular foot down, just felt it slightly.

‘Sometimes you can get a really heavy landing or twist awkwardly, these things can happen, in particular during pressure situations with bodily contact.

‘That said, this has happened on a regular landing for a goalkeeper.

‘We obviously look at things and how they have happened, but we went on a specialist’s advice and an X-ray (before he joined Southend), so this has been unfortunate.

‘Some game time at Southend would have been perfect for Alex and for us.’

Lewis Ward is presently back-up to Craig MacGillivray after arriving on loan from Exeter during the January transfer window.

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