Duncan Barkes

is against Leicester on Saturday 18th April.

And then our final game of the season, as has been scheduled all along, is a 12.30 kick-off against Birmingham.

So this is 11 games between 7th March and 2nd May, 12 counting the rescheduled Ipswich game whenever they're going to fit that in.

So besides everything else that Pompey have got on their plate, a very complex run-in through the final part of the season has been scheduled largely by TV.

In a welcome bit of good news, after losing Josh Murphy for the season, Pompey have received a boost regarding in-form midfielder John Swift.

Blues boss John Massinio has confirmed that the hamstring injury the Gosport native picked up isn't serious, and he's now targeting a return for the Swansea City game on March 10th.

Swift went down with the hamstring issue during the first half against Wrexham on Tuesday night, forcing the former Chelsea man to be subbed off before the break.

A subsequent scan however has shown no significant damage, that'll come as a huge relief for Pompey.

The summer signing from West Brom has been in great form, playing a key role in the recent back-to-back away wins at Charlton and Millwall, where he grabbed the crucial second goal.

It's not too bad for John, Misenio said, he's had a scan and will hopefully be back for the Swansea game.

Massinio also gave an update on striker Mackenzie Kirk, whose Achilles injury has kept the Northern Ireland U21 international out of the last three matches.

He isn't expected to be sidelined for much longer, with a return against either Swansea or the following match against Derby County on March 16 being pencilled in.

We're looking at potentially Swansea for Mackenzie, or potentially Derby, the manager added.

In other team news the injury list has shrunk by one, with Australian defender Hayden Matthews making his return against Hull City.

He had been out with an ankle injury since the New Year's Day defeat at Bristol City.

The outlook is far worse for Josh Murphy however.

With the club still reeling from the confirmation that his season is over due to a metatarsal injury he suffered at Swansea in December.

There's nothing else at the moment, Messina concluded.

So it looks like we've got through that heavy period of games with no new injuries.

We need Lady Luck on our side.