Danny Cowley confirms Portsmouth blow after club’s victory over Oxford

Portsmouth head coach Danny Cowley has revealed that Reeco Hackett-Fairchild is likely to miss the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign due to a knee injury.

The 24-year-old suffered ligament damage during last weekend’s showdown with Fleetwood Town at Fratton Park.

In the absence of Hackett-Fairchild, Pompey managed to seal all three points in their clash with Oxford last night.

Karl Robinson’s side opened the scoring in the third minute of this fixture as Marcus Browne fired past Gavin Bazunu.

Portsmouth levelled proceedings in the 42nd minute as Sean Raggett headed home from Joe Morrell’s cross.

George Hirst then gave his side the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Portsmouth extended their advantage over Oxford following the break as Hayden Carter netted a superb strike from outside of the area.

Although Luke McNally did pull a goal back for the U’s, Pompey held on to secure a 3-2 victory in-front of their supporters.

As a result of this triumph, Portsmouth moved up to 10th in the League One standings.

Following this clash, Cowley shared an injury update on Hackett-Fairchild.

Speaking to Hampshire Live about Hackett-Fairchild, the Pompey boss said: “It looks like we’ve lost Reeco now for the rest of the season after an injury on Saturday, so it’s tough for us at the moment.

“He picked up an injury at the early part of the second half and played on with it.

“He’s had it scanned and there’s a rupture to the lateral ligament, so not good news unfortunately.”

The Verdict

This is a serious blow for Portsmouth as Hackett-Fairchild has produced some promising performances for the club in League One this season.

Utilised in several different positions by Cowley, Hackett-Fairchild’s versatility has proved to be useful for Pompey