Preston v Portsmouth: Huge injury blow confirmed ahead of Deepdale showdown
Portsmouth and Preston are both contending with injury issues ahead of Saturday’s contest at Deepdale.
John Mousinho’s side will look to return to winning ways after their disappointing loss at home to Plymouth Argyle on Wednesday.
On the other end, the hosts come to this game on the back of a 1-1 draw at home Sunderland and Pompey are aiming to secure a win to just ease the threat of being dragged into the battle for the drop, with seven points separating them and the bottom three.
Mousinho’s side won’t want another slip-up before the international break as their cushion to the relegation places could vanish pretty quickly in a hugely competitive Championship.
Portsmouth and Preston have injury-depleted squads
For the clash at Deepdale, as many as 16 players could miss the game because of injuries. For Pompey, Callum Lang, Ibane Bowat and Hayden Matthews are out for the season. Conor Shaughnessy, Jacob Farrell, Robin Atkinson, Jordan Williams and Paddy Lane are also sidelined with their injuries.
As for Preston, Paul Heckingbottom has added another name to the injured players’ list. The 47-year-old manager has confirmed that Brad Potts will miss the game against Pompey on Saturday.
Heckingbottom also hit back at the criticism lashed at him for time-wasting in Preston’s clash against Sunderland. In a bizarre turn of events at the Stadium of Light, the North End boss made three substitutions in a weird fashion.
| Opposition | Home/Away |
| Preston | Away |
| Blackburn | Home |
| Millwall | Away |
| Coventry | Away |
The game was paused as Ryan Porteous was being treated for a head injury. He quickly was back up on his feet but the referee sent him to the sidelines for checks. At this point, Kaine Kesler-Hayden went down and had to be substituted. Just after Kesler-Hayden’s substitution, Potts signalled the bench to come off with an injury.
Speaking to the Sunderland Echo, Heckingbottom confirmed Potts’ injury.
He told: “Yeah, Pottsy felt his hamstring – did it sprinting – and obviously, he was aware that was our last change. So then that’s when he flagged it up and Kaine [Kesler-Hayden] had already left the pitch. He’s going to be missing at the weekend. I don’t know how long it will be.
“Everyone’s saying we were time-wasting… why would I take the only two people who can play right-wing back off? If Kaine hadn’t have left the pitch, we’d have probably left him on. We took him off because he’s got a tight hamstring at the minute; he’s getting treatment for it and we’re managing him through it.
“He was starting to cramp up but he was the first board that the linesmen had looked at. Pottsy’s then gone and said: ‘I’ve done my hamstring, I’m sure I have’. So we had to make that other change. He’s got some damage there. The good thing is we’ve got the international break now to get him right.”
Portsmouth need a win after Plymouth shock
Mousinho’s side are actually on a decent run, winning five of their last seven games. This run enabled Pompey to create some distance between them and the relegation zone.
At one point, the South Coast side were struggling at the bottom and staring at relegation but the 38-year-old manager has inspired a turnaround for the club. The job isn’t done yet.
Portsmouth do have tricky fixtures up ahead and it is imperative that they collect as many points as possible as this year’s relegation battle is extremely tight and will go down to the wire. Pompey need to get back to winning ways against Preston as they are treading on wafer-thin ice at the moment.