Portsmouth keeper facing stay on sidelines after suffering leg fracture

Alex Bass faces another month on the sidelines after suffering a leg stress fracture.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Kenny Jackett has revealed what was believed to be a calf injury for the keeper picked up in a training collision with team-mate Haji Mnoga, is in fact worse than feared.

Pompey are concerned about the slow rate at which the 22-year-old is recovering, leading to a move for Exeter keeper Lewis Ward.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And after already being sidelined for two-and-a-half weeks Jackett revealed the academy graduate still faces weeks out before he’s back in contention.

He said: ‘The reasoning behind it (signing Ward) and the logic is Alex Bass’ injury is a stress fracture and is responding quite slowly.

‘We don’t want to rush him back, it does look like the majority of February if not all of February until he’s back.’

Pompey had young Huddersfield keeper Jacob Chapman training with them today, but have opted to pursue a move for a more experienced option in Ward, with a loan deal agreed until the end of the season.

Alex Bass.  Picture: Catherine Ivill/Getty ImagesAlex Bass.  Picture: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Alex Bass. Picture: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The need for a keeper was intensified with Bass’ injury worse than initially feared.

Jackett’s plan was to wait as late as possible in the transfer window before reacting to the situation.

With young keepers Duncan Turnbull and Taylor Seymour viewed as not being quite ready for League One football that meant taking action in the transfer market.

Jackett added: ‘We needed to assess the situation with Alex at the end of January to see whether we needed cover or not.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘Let’s say he was pushing ahead, he was within a week or 10 days of coming back and everything healed up well then we may have taken a chance.

‘But similarly, it’s responding quite slowly and a stress fracture isn’t something you can’t push through.

‘Some injuries you can push through with a little bit of discomfort and pain.

‘You can then push and get yourself fully fit, but that won’t be the case with this particular situation because a stress fracture in that area means you can’t kick a ball.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘For Alex anyway it will be the majority if not all of February. That’s where it is.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Pompey coverage 365 days a year.

We’ve launched a new transfer window special offer for readers to get 20% off our subscription package.

Use the promo code TRANSFER20 to sign up here.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.