Whatmough to make Pompey comeback

The Blues defender is aiming to put five months of injury pain behind him with a Premier League Cup return against Leicester tomorrow.

Whatmough is pencilled in for a 45-minute outing at Nyewood Lane (7pm).

The Gosport talent has been sidelined since September after undergoing surgery on his knee.

That’s the third time Whatmough’s faced an injury of that nature in the 21-year-old’s career.

Blues boss Kenny Jackett said: ‘He’ll play 45 minutes. It’s his first game back and he’s doing well.

‘It looks ahead of schedule but it’s not something we wanted to put a time frame on.

‘So we’ve left him alone, but where he is now is that he’s done enough work and enough training.

‘We can’t do much more than let him play. That’s a good situation to be in.

‘The good thing is he’s pushing to play.

‘While medically we’re telling him he’s 100 per cent fine, we wouldn’t let him play otherwise, he’s been saying he wants to play games, he’s a footballer and he wants to get going.

‘Hopefully it all goes well for him. It will be great if we did because he’s a smashing guy who’s not had a lot of luck in a short career.’

Jackett explained he liked what he saw of Whatmough before his injury and has been impressed with his attitude through his rehab.

He said: ‘He’s a master or an expert of the situation!

‘You can get down, doubt yourself or doubt whether it’s for you. He’s shown a lot of determination, so fingers crossed everything is okay.

‘In my short time working with him I felt he started the season well. He had some good games in the first team.’

– JORDAN CROSS