Portsmouth duo in line for returns but striker set to miss at least a month

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho is hopeful Conor Shaughnessy and Josh Murphy will return for next weekend’s clash with Burnley, but Colby Bishop could be sidelined for up to six weeks.

Shaughnessy and Murphy both missed out again in the win over Millwall but were close to being available, with Pompey opting against taking any unnecessary risks.

“Shaughs and Murph are hopefully back for next week,” Mousinho told the Portsmouth News.

“It was touch and go for them today. Murph trained on Wednesday, but it was too much of a risk.

“We didn’t manage to train on the grass yesterday because of the storm and training on astro wasn’t an option for Murph.

“We went to Moneyfields and did warm-up boxes, set-pieces and shape so Shaughs couldn’t get in a session either.

“But if we can get a good week into them, they could be back for Burnley.”

Bishop, meanwhile, will not require surgery on his knee problem but faces a longer spell on the sidelines.

“The update is we’re not 100 per cent on how long he’ll be out,” Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

“We were hopeful it would be a couple of weeks, but it’s looking longer than that.

“There’s no surgery required but hopefully he’ll be back in four to six weeks, but we’re not entirely sure.

“We’ll have to wait for that bone bruising and everything around his knee to settle down.”