Portsmouth’s midfield trio, including a former Arsenal player, are set to return to training in less than a fortnight, according to their manager.
However, John Mousinho will err on the side of caution when it comes to putting the returning options at the heart of the Blues’ promotion campaign.
Tom Lowery (hamstring), Tino Anjorin (hamstring), and Ben Stephenson (knee) are all expected to return following their trip to Peterborough on March 16.
Anjorin has been sidelined with a serious hamstring injury sustained at Chesterfield in the FA Cup at the beginning of November.
Meanwhile, Stephenson suffered knee ligament damage in January, and Lowery was forced to withdraw against Cambridge last month.
Mousinho stated, “We hope to have Tom Lowery and Ben Stephenson back on the grass after Peterborough.”
We hope to have Tino back with us after Peterborough.
‘He’ll train with Chelsea next week, and if he meets all of the requirements, we’ll have the three of them back.
‘If you look at the three of them, Tino is coming off a significant injury, so we’ll take it slow with him.
‘Ben is recovering from a significant injury, not as severe as Tino’s, but we will take it slowly as it has been a lengthy rehabilitation process.’
And Tom is coming off a minor injury, but he has a history of injuries, so we must be cautious.
So we’ll look after all three of them, not spending too much time with them and not rushing them back. After Tom was injured, we considered bringing Lee (Evans) in.
The news is good for Zak Swanson, who returned to full training this week after groin surgery and his last appearance in December.
That means the former Arsenal right-back will be considered for the trip to Blackpool on Saturday.
Mousinho added, “Zak trained this week and had a full training session today, so he will be available for selection at Blackpool.”
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