Portsmouth sweating on fitness of three players ahead of West Brom’s Championship visit to Fratton Park

Pompey face a nervous wait as the latest international break draws to a close today.

Three of the four Blues players selected to represent their respective countries are expected to be in action over the course of the day – ensuring John Mousinho will be keeping everything crossed that all three come through unscathed.

Pompey are next in action on Sunday, when West Brom travel to Fratton Park in the Championship.

Their last fixture, against Sunderland on August 31, saw seven players sit out the defeat due to either injury or illness. And while the medical team were hoping the international break will provide some with the opportunity to make significant inroads on their availability, there’s always a concern that those on duty for their respective countries report back with niggles and knocks picked up while they were away.

In fairness, there appears no fear of Kusini Yengi fitting into that category, with the Australian international not part of the Socceroos travelling party for their World Cup qualifier against Indonesia today (1pm). His red card against Bahrain on Thursday saw to that, leaving the Pompey striker to head back to the UK with a bruised ego at best!

However, Sammy Silvera is part of Australia coach Graham Arnold’s plans for the game in Jakarta and has been named in the starting XI for a match that is a 78,000 sell-out. The fact that the Indonesia capital – which is a 16-hour flight from London – has been hit with torrential rain today will also make the Blues apprehensive, with conditions at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium bound to be heavy going under foot!

Closer to home, Terry Devlin is expected to once again feature for Northern Ireland under-21s as they host Ukraine at the Ballymena Showgrounds.

The Blues midfielder produced a man-of-the-match display on Friday night as Tommy Wright’s side secured a goalless draw against England. And while the 20-year-old was not part of Mousinho’s plans for Sunderland, the Blues boss will be desperate for Devlin to report back to the south coast ahead of West Brom’s visit injury free and buoyed by his recent headline-making performance against the young Three Lions.

That Northern Ireland under-21s v Ukraine under-21s game kicks off at 7.45pm

Before that, Mark O’Mahoney’s Republic of Ireland under-21s side face Latvia in Dublin with qualification to next year’s European Championship still firmly within their reach.

A 1-0 win in Tutkey solidified their chances of making it to Slovakia next summer, with the Blues’ on-loan Brighton striker coming off the bench in the second half to help Jim Crawford’s record and impressive away win.

That was the exciting 19-year-old’s third cap at under-21 level – something he’ll, no doubt, be looking to add to this evening, with that game at the Tallaght Stadium kicking off at 5pm.

In their absence, the rest of the Pompey squad have hopefully been benefitting from a mini pre-season at the Blues’ Hilsea training base. Among the injured players Mousinho was hoping to see make significant strides fitness-wise ahead of the Baggies game were Conor Shaughnessy (calf), Tom McIntyre (hamstring), Jacob Farrell (knee) and Josh Murphy (ankle).

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