The EFL Championship 2024/25 will start with Preston North End facing Sheffield United. The Leeds United opener will be against Portsmouth only a few hours after the first match of the season. The Whites ended their pre-season campaign on a high with a 2-1 win over La Liga side Valencia. Pompey on the other hand continued their poor pre-season form as they don’t look ready for Leeds United vs Portsmouth.
Pompey lost 0-2 to League One side Charlton Athletic in their last pre-season friendly. As if the bad form wasn’t enough, the Hampshire-based outfit now faces another injury concern. In the first half against Charlton, latest signing Josh Murphy suffered a knock to his ankle. Naturally, Murphy was forced off the field which raises concerns regarding the Englishman’s availability.
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho cleared that it was just a knock to the ankle, but the injury needs to be further examined. There might be reassessing and scans if required. However, the Pompey Gaffer was confident that Josh would be available for the clash against Leeds.
“Josh is OK, He has taken a knock to his ankle, it’s just a contact injury, he hasn’t gone over on it. There’s not a huge amount of concern there, but we will monitor that.”
“We’ll have to assess that and see if we need a scan – but I think it’s just going to be a contact injury. It’s swelling up a bit, so we’re not too concerned about that.”
-John Mousinho via The News
Tom McIntyre and Jacob Farrell’s injury woes
Credits: Imago Images
After missing the last pre-season friendly, Tom McIntyre and Jacob Farrell have been ruled out for the clash against Leeds.
“Tom is currently out with the injury he picked up against Wycombe, so that’s probably a couple of weeks. Most likely he’ll miss the start of the season. We didn’t think Jacob’s injury would be too bad, but he will be out for a couple of weeks as well and miss the first game.”
-John Mousinho via The News
Tom McIntyre suffered a tight hamstring against Wycombe Wanderers last weekend while Jacob Farrell also had a knock to his knee during training.
“With everything that’s happening with Jacob, such as coming over from Australia and not being able to settle into training straight away, it’s about making sure we treat that one as we need to treat it.”
-John Mousinho via The News
Portsmouth will start the season without two first-team players. A third might become a part of the list but it will depend on the seriousness of the injury. These unfortunate circumstances will provide Leeds another upper hand over Portsmouth as The Whites boast superiority on paper regardless of squad availability.
