Portsmouth's Shaughnessy suffers calf tear

Conor Shaughnessy has only managed two league appearances this campaign

Portsmouth defender Conor Shaughnessy is set to miss the rest of 2024 after picking up another calf problem.

The 28 year-old had been struggling with a calf injury this season and has now torn the other calf while running.

Boss John Mousinho had been hoping to have him back after the international break, but now the defender - who missed just one league match in the whole of last season - is not expected to return until 2025.

"Unfortunately we've had a bit of a setback with Conor," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"It's really frustrating and we were hoping that he would maybe be back in training this week but he felt his other calf during straight line running about a week ago.

"He has a tear in the other calf now so we're really devastated about that one and it's a really frustrating one for Conor too, it's a big blow for us and we've been left scratching our heads a bit as to how it happened."

The Portsmouth boss added that his recovery time would be at least six weeks and that he managed to sustain the injury before even being back in full training with the squad.

Shaughnessy was ever present in Portsmouth's side last season but this campaign he has only managed two appearances.

Mousinho also revealed that defenders Zak Swanson and Jacob Farrell are close to returning to fitness, but Jordan Williams was likely to be out for another four weeks.

He also gave an update on striker Colby Bishop who made his long awaited return from heart surgery before the international break, scoring in a substitute appearance.

"Naturally Colby would say he is ready to start," Mousinho added.

"In this instance with the severity of the surgery, he's not banging on the door to say that he's definitely ready to start.

"He knows how long it's going to take him to get back into the fold but we're really happy in terms of where he is right now, he's still been out for a long time though and very little match exposure so with all of that in mind it's maybe slightly too soon to see him."

Portsmouth next visit Blackburn Rovers on Saturday in the Championship.

'Pompey have missed Shaughnessy's size and physicality'

Analysis - BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator Andy Moon.

Just when it seemed Portsmouth’s injury luck had turned following Colby Bishop’s surprise return they suffer another blow.

Shaughnessy was one of the surprise stars of the League One promotion campaign and was rewarded with a new contract in the summer.

He’s now not featured since the second game of the season. Yet again he’s broken down when it seemed a return to action wasn’t far away.

Pompey have hugely missed his size and physicality in box penalty areas. Captain Marlon Pack is now likely to continue as a makeshift centre-back.