Portsmouth FC dealt frustrating player blow ahead of QPR | OneFootball

Pompey continue to suffer with injury issues.

Portsmouth are set to be without defender Conor Shaugnessy for an extended period of time after he suffered a calf injury, John Mousinho has confirmed.

Over the past 12-15 months there has been a real fitness struggle at Fratton Park. Their title-winning League One season last time out was plagued with major injuries being suffered across the board. That theme has unfortunately carried over into their first campaign back in the Championship.

Star forward Colby Bishop hasn't featured at all after an issue in his heart was spotted, forcing him to undergo surgery before the start of the new season.

They were also without Regan Poole for the first four games of the season as he was still recovering from a knee injury that he suffered last November.

He's now up to speed after a long period out, but Portsmouth's defensive options have been weakened once again by an injury to Shaughnessy.

Conor Shaughnessy out for 4-6 weeks

Pompey's boss confirmed, ahead of his side's clash with fellow potential relegation contenders Queens Park Rangers, that the centre-back has sustained a calf injury, with a specialist confirming that the length of time he will need to be out of action will be longer than first thought. He could be out until December.

"With Conor there is a bit of tendon damage in the calf and that’s going to keep him out for about 4-6 weeks," said Mousinho to The News.

"It looks like it’s the same area, but certainly not the original injury we were treating. We weren’t treating a tendon injury to start off with, so it’s hard to tell whether there was something underlying or something he picked up.

"Either way we have to deal with what we have. We have to make sure we get it right and he’s back and available and fit.

"He will now rehab, he’s with the medical staff and making sure he does everything properly to get himself back.

"It’s really frustrating for us and for Conor," added Mousinho. "You can probably tell by the fact that when we had him back in training for a week we wanted to get him back in the side.

"He’s such a big, important part of what we’ve done here over the past year and what we want to continue to do. He’s a big miss for us."

Shaughnessy has only featured twice for Pompey since their promotion. He joins Bishop, Jacob Farrell and Ibane Bowat on the injury ward.

It's not all bad news, though. Callum Lang and Kusini Yengi have returned to training as they continue to recover from their respective fitness issues.

QPR could be a pivotal game for Portsmouth

Mousinho and his players are still yet to pick up three points in a game this season - they are the only Championship side to have not won a game. They need to get that monkey off their backs soon rather than later, and a game against a beatable side like QPR could kickstart things for them.

Under Marti Cifuentes, they haven't quite been able to carry on their good form from the latter half of last season, and they sit just one place above Portsmouth in the league table (both of them are in the relegation zone).

In fairness to Pompey, their lack of wins can be attributed to the ludicrously hard start to the season that they have had, facing many teams that could be considered to be the top contenders in the division.

Now they are through that run and into an easier stretch which they need to capitalise on if they want to make their stay in the Championship a more long-term thing. A win over QPR would be a great way to get that push going.