Pompey handed big injury boost ahead of Barnsley game with three key players back available

Pompey handed big injury boost ahead of Barnsley game with three key players back available

John Mousinho could welcome back three players back to his 18-man match-day squad for Pompey’s trip to Barnsley.

Pompey have received a welcomed boost as John Mousinho has revealed that Christian Saydee is in contention to face Barnsley on Tuesday night.

The Blues travel to Oakwell to face promotion rivals Barnsley, and should have Saydee at their disposal should he be required for their crunch-clash with the Tykes. Saydee was absent in the 1-1 draw with Derby County on Saturday, owing to an injury that he sustained in training.

Saydee did not train in the build-up to the clash with the Rams, and he was described as ‘touch and go’ last week, but now looks set to at least be amongst for the substitutes in the re-arranged fixture with Barnsley.

‘Christian should be available,” admitted Mousinho in his pre-match press conference

‘We still need to do a bit of an assessment on him tomorrow to see how gets through after being out there today.

‘Christian is one we’re looking forward to welcoming back into the fold because he’s been so good this year particularly against Peterborough.”

The 21-year-old forward joined from AFC Bournemouth earlier this summer and had been building up some momentum before his injury.

He netted in the Carabao Cup defeat against Peterborough United, and then played the entire match against the Posh in their League One encounter. To date, he has made eight appearances this season with 430 minutes of pitch time, and so far has netted one goal.

 

Mousinho added: “Apart from that, a clean bill of health apart from the long-term injuries.’

 

No other players are a doubt for the match, despite a slight worry on Saturday when Zak Swanson clutched his knee. It was revealed he had jarred his knee, but he contineud to play on and now there is a selection headache for Mousinho to make after Joe Rafferty comes back into the reckoning after serving his three-match ban.

Midfielder Joe Morrell is also back in the side having served his own suspension. He picked up two yellow cards in the win against Peterborough, earning him a one-game ban, but featured for Wales over the international break, and so has kept fit.