Portsmouth: With Regan Poole set to miss the entire campaign, what next for Pompey?
- Published
Regan Poole suffered an ACL injury in the FA Cup first-round defeat at Chesterfield
Learning to be a journalist I was told not to use acronyms where possible.
I don't think many football fans could explain the medical details of the dreaded ACL injury but they know it's bad, really bad. ACL and Regan Poole were not things Portsmouth fans wanted to hear in the same sentence.
ACL stands for Anterior Cruciate Ligament. It's in the middle at the front of your knee, underneath your knee cap, joining your thigh bone and shin bone. I'm not a doctor, I even had to message one to make sure the previous sentence was accurate, but I know how unfortunate it is to suffer that injury. It can only really be fixed by surgery and means nine months out.
For Regan Poole it means a race to be fit for the start of next season, he won't play again this campaign. Cruel luck. Player of the season awards aren't handed out in November but if they were he'd have got my nomination for an outstanding first three months for Pompey. It shows why managers opt to rest players for FA Cup matches. There is a small chance of serious injury every time you play.
Poole epitomises the aggression John Mousinho wants to see from his defenders with a "you shall not pass" approach to tackling. He's quick and solid in the air but the most notable thing has been his ability to start attacks by bringing the ball out from the defence. We've seen both Poole and centre-back partner Conor Shaughnessy do that this season which has been a notable change from last year. It's generally been effective with Portsmouth dominating possession in most games this season.
'Expecting the unexpected'
Portsmouth fans aren't used to things going quite as well they have this season so perhaps were expecting something to go wrong. After Colby Bishop, Poole is perhaps the player they would least like to have lost. So does this burst the automatic promotion bubble? It is a massive blow to lose one of the best players a third of the way through the season and the percentage chance of promotion probably drops a little. However the success this season is built on so much more than just one player and Pompey will rightly back themselves to be in the thick of the promotion picture next spring.
You would now expect Portsmouth to bring another centre-back in during the January transfer window. Given challenges of doing business in January it will be very difficult to buy a player as good as Regan Poole. A loan from a Premier League club is an option. Di'Shon Bernard showed some encouraging signs when he arrived from Manchester United last January.
Pompey will be relying on Sean Raggett and his dominance in the air to fill the void left by the injured Regan Poole, until January at least
January is still some distance away though so for now it's an opportunity for Sean Raggett. He's the club's longest serving player. He's a different centre-back to Regan Poole. He doesn't have Poole's elegance or passing range but he's dominant in the air and a much better athlete than he's given credit for.
Raggett has received more than his fair share of criticism as a Portsmouth player but he is an extremely determined individual who is used to having to prove people wrong. He's mentally very tough. One former Portsmouth defender I was speaking to this week described him as "more than capable" and the flak he received as "mad". He arrived at the club to win promotion to the Championship so has unfinished business.
I said in this week's edition of Moon's Musings that you can win promotion from League One with Sean Raggett as your starting centre-back. I have no doubt you can, but losing Poole feels like the first big obstacle thrown in Portsmouth's way this season. They've passed all their previous tests this campaign, there is still a very long to go.
You can hear every Pompey match live on BBC Radio Solent with Andy Moon and former Blues striker and manager Guy Whittingham.
