Portsmouth's injury concerns ahead of Stoke City fixture on Wednesday ft Shaughnessy, Yengi | OneFootball

Portsmouth face Stoke on Wednesday evening, and will be slightly concerned with the few players they have out injured ahead of the encounter

Portsmouth are still on the search for their first victory back in the Championship following a stalemate with Sheffield United this past weekend, but they will be hoping to get off the mark on Wednesday away at Stoke City.

John Mousinho has encountered a difficult start in Pompey's return to the second tier, with his side yet to win after seven games, and another concern adding to this poor start is the continuous absences of key players in their squad.

Mousinho can't use this as a major excuse, due to having the majority of his squad available to him, but these certain players may have made a difference to Pompey's start in the Championship this season.

The point against the Blades could certainly build some sort of momentum in their bid to escape a relegation battle this season, but an away day at Stoke is a tricky prospect for anyone.

These handful of players will not be making the trip up to Staffordshire.

Conor Shaughnessy

Shaughnessy was a vital player in Pompey's excellent League One title campaign, featuring in almost every fixture in the third tier last season.

However, the 28-year-old has endured an injury-ridden start to the 2024/25 campaign, after a calf issue continues to dampen his spirits.

The Irishman suffered the injury more than a month ago and has only played in two of Portsmouth's opening eight games of the season, featuring in draws versus Luton Town and Leeds United.

Shaughnessy was named to start in the 0-0 draw with the Blades, but suffered the same occurrence to his calf in the warm-up, with Tom McIntyre taking his place instead.

Mousinho made it clear that the centre-back would miss the encounter with the Potters on Wednesday, but will also be an absentee for their next home fixture versus Oxford United.

The Portsmouth boss told Portsmouth.co.uk: "He’s going for another scan, but it’s a recurrence of the same injury. He won’t play this week.

"As you'd imagine, anyone who has come back from that injury would be. He wants to play games. He was down on Saturday.

"We never brought him back too soon if he wasn't 100% fit. It's one of those things, we can keep players back for eternity, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

"I think it was just one of those things. It's doubly frustrating because with Conor we felt he was ready to start and would have made a difference."

Kusini Yengi

Another alarming problem in Portsmouth's start of the season has been their lack of goals. Since their opening day 3-3 draw versus Leeds United, Pompey have hit the back of the net on just four occasions.

A key component as to why they are suffering in front of goal is the absence of Kusini Yengi. The forward performed well in his first season on the south coast, finding the back of the net nine times in League One.

The Australian has been out injured since the West Brom game, where, like Shaughnessy, he suffered an injury in the warm-up - this time to his groin, something which had flared up before the season opener in August against Leeds United.

Yengi has only featured twice off the bench for Pompey so far this season, and is expected to be sidelined for the visit to Stoke, as well as Oxford's trip to Fratton Park this coming weekend.

Despite this concern which adds to Mousinho's worries, Yengi is confident of a return during the international break, which could turn out to be a real boost to Pompey's season.

Callum Lang and Colby Bishop out, but Ogilvie is set to return

Portsmouth's long-term injuries see attackers Callum Lang and Colby Bishop certainly not in contention for the next few games. Lang suffered a groin injury versus Burnley which will see him out for another two weeks.

Bishop's is on the more serious side, with the striker having undergone heart surgery in August, but the 27-year-old is on the road to recovery, and is now training once more.

Due to the squad list rules, Bishop won't be able to feature for the Blues until January 1st, which opens a new registration window and th next chance to be involved in league action.

On a positive note for Pompey, Conor Ogilvie is set to be in contention for the clash in Stoke, after returning to training on Monday following his recovery from the flu.

This will give Mousinho a dilemma about whom to start at left-back on Wednesday, following 21-year-old, Jacob Farrell, impressing on his debut against the Blades last Saturday.