John Mousinho’s fifth-placed team will play Wigan, Derby, Barnsley, and Lincoln in September, three of which will be away from Fratton Park.
Positive developments regarding Kusini Yengi and Anthony Scully’s fight to rejoin the first team, however, have been made.
After Christian Saydee landed on him during training last month, Yengi sustained ligament damage to his right ankle and was expected to be sidelined for two months.
The Australian striker, who is closing in on a return ahead of schedule, is now anticipated to be back running on grass in the coming week.
The next challenge before he moves on to full training and declares his availability for Blues selection is that.
However, the player’s rehabilitation gives Pompey hope after he scored four goals in his first three matches, which was an outstanding start to his south coast career.
As for Scully’s knee ailment, worries have been allayed after getting a second opinion in the wake of scans.
The newly signed Wigan player missed the previous three games after dealing with a minor injury but still playing despite the agony.
Pompey still felt the need to see a second surgeon about the persistent knee ailment even though it was never thought to be a medium-term issue.
They have been encouraged by the second diagnosis, though, and will now speed up Scully’s recovery in anticipation of his comeback to the first team in September.
After deadline day interest from Grimsby, #Pompey squad boost for Denver Hume. https://t.co/wMUaXwHJrC
— Neil Allen (@pn_neil_allen) September 10, 2023
The former West Ham player is undoubtedly going to miss the trip to Derby (on September 16), and Barnsley (on September 19) might be too soon.
However, the upcoming matches against Lincoln (September 23) and Wigan (September 30) seem more likely for his comeback at this point.
While Josh Dockerill is still out for the season due to right knee ACL damage, Tom Lowery is making progress in his recovery from knee ligament damage.