League One leaders Portsmouth have suffered a triple injury blow with Joe Morrell, Terry Devlin and Tom McIntrye ruled out for the rest of the season. Morrell and Devlin were both injured in a 2-2 draw away at Oxford United last month, while McIntyre's injury came in a challenge for which he was sent off against Northampton on his debut. On Wednesday, the Football Association overturned the controversial red card. But scans revealed the 25-year-old had suffered a fractured ankle. Wales international Morrell, 27, has sustained a knee cartilage injury requiring surgery and 20-year-old fellow midfielder Devlin will also need an operation on his shoulder. Pompey boss John Mousinho said Morrell's injury was not as bad as feared but would keep him out for the rest of the season. "With Joe, there was unfortunately a small piece of cartilage that chipped off his knee, so he's in for surgery today," he said. "That's going to be him [injured] for the rest of the campaign, although the good news is that we feared it could be ligament damage, which would have seen him out for a lot longer. "We don't know how the operation has gone yet - and we hope it's gone well - but he should be back for pre-season. "Terry's shoulder injury is a lot worse than we originally thought and he's also set for surgery after landing on it awkwardly. "We're again looking at three-plus months for his recovery, so that will again take us through to the end of the season." Portsmouth beat Northampton 4-1 on Saturday but McIntyre was sent off after 54 minutes. He received a red card for serious foul play after a sliding challenge on Mitch Pinnock midway inside his own half. The 25-year-old was making his debut after arriving from Reading just four days earlier but will now miss the rest of the season as Portsmouth chase promotion to the Championship. "It's a tough one to take after only just signing him and the fact he went into the challenge honestly, which showed from the red card being overturned," Mousinho added. "You look at every injury and how you can do things differently, with training and the player load, but it's just down to bad luck." Pompey sit four points clear at the top of League One and visit bottom-of-the-table Carlisle United on Saturday.
Heart-brakng for the players but I feel the team can withstand the loss of options. Tom Lowery's almost immediate return to top form and the acquisition of Moxon reduces the impact of Morrell's pending absence. I felt Raggert was unfortunate to start on the bench last Saturday and we have other good centre back options with Towler and Ogilvie. Having said that McIntyre had a good game prior to his dismissal and could give the team more strength next season when, we hope. Poole also will return. Devlin has shown good positional sense and the sort of endeavor and energy that provides a good start on the road to being a useful player but at this point in time he could still be regarded as a fringe squad player. Thankfully these are not injuries that set back the most critical aspect of the January recruitment - the need find more creative ability and striking power at the front. PUP
