Portsmouth Boss John Mousinho Provides Update on Marko Milovanović Injury Ahead of Stoke City

Portsmouth striker Marko Milovanović is facing a spell on the sidelines after suffering a quad injury during Tuesday’s 3-1 Championship victory over Swansea City at Fratton Park.

The Serbian forward, nicknamed Marezi, sustained the problem in the second half and is awaiting the results of a scan. His recent run of seven appearances, which followed an earlier calf issue, is expected to end with him missing this weekend’s match against Stoke City.

Manager John Mousinho insisted there were no prior warning signs and expressed frustration that the injury occurred just as the player was about to be substituted.

“With Marko’s injury, we had the subs ready and he was going to come off,” Mousinho said. “That’s the frustrating thing, we were about to make the change anyway. That’s just one of those unfortunate things.

“He was still fine with an hour gone and there were no warning signs at all. He was just tiring up in terms of the press, but there was nothing physical which was a red flag at that point.

“The boys had come out and we were ready to make that triple change. I think it makes it even more frustrating that he pulled up when we were going to take him off. He was actually through as well.

“It’s one of those things with the games and the way the scheduling has been, inevitably we were going to pick up a couple of injuries. I think we’ve actually done okay through this spell.

“We’ve got to the back end and picked up one with Marko and maybe one with Iyad (Mohamed). We’ll just have to see how they settle down.”

Portsmouth are currently managing a demanding fixture list of five games in 13 days followed by a further three matches in eight days. The side has navigated the period relatively well so far, with Stoke to come before the international break.

In addition to Milovanović’s hip/quad issue and Iyad Mohamed’s calf problem, the club have a lengthy injury list that includes Benjy Arthur (back), Connor Ogilvie (knee), Colby Bishop (knee), John Swift (knee), Mark Kosznovszky (knee), Keshi Anderson (hamstring) and Luke Brooke-Smith (ankle).

Mousinho does not expect any of those players to return for the trip to Bolton Wanderers on 12 November, after the international break. He noted that recent returnees such as Wadds, Murphs, Shaughs and Franco are back in the fold, while Swift remains approximately four weeks away and Ogilvie’s knee is being treated symptomatically with no clear timescale for his recovery.