Portsmouth finally see luck turn with welcome boost for Hull City clash

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho is hopeful of a much-needed boost this week as his Championship basement strugglers prepare to make the trip to face Hull City. Already finding things tough this season, Pompey found that when you're down things tend to conspire against you when losing the trio of Nicolas Schmid, Paddy Lane and Jordan Williams in the first half of the 2-0 defeat to Cardiff City last week.

The players subsequently missed last Friday night's 2-2 loss against Sheffield Wednesday as Portsmouth suffered back-to-back defeats to compound their misery. Goalkeeper Schmid now looks set to return against the Tigers this weekend, with Williams also in contention to feature.

Speaking to The News, Portsmouth boss Mousinho gave a positive team update as his side look to end their losing run and stay in touch with the likes of Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City and Stoke City, who all sit just outside the relegation zone four points ahead of Pompey.

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Mousinho said; "Nico should be okay for Hull, it looks like it was a concussion the other night. He just wasn’t right after taking the knock to the head. He wouldn't have been able to play anyway - and he wasn’t fit to play.

"Hull should be fine as long as everything settles down, he feels all right, and he passes all the requisite tests, which we have to make sure we follow with an independent doctor. The other two are short-term injuries. Paddy Lane has an issue with his Achilles, so we’ll see how that settles down, but I don’t think it's going to be long-term.

"Jordan (Williams) was a contact injury, it was impact, and really, really stiff on the hip flexor. He actually ran on Thursday, but wasn’t good enough to be involved against Sheffield Wednesday."