POMPEY "FULL OF GOALSCORERS" -

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Pompey Sound Podcasts 10 min 4 chapters transcribed

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What is the latest team news for Pompey ahead of the match?

0:02

Here is the latest team news for Pompey, ahead of the match vs QPR. John Massigno continues to play his cards close to his chest, however he's come out and said that Josh Murphy is 50-50 to start the game. The latest update on Murphy's injury, which is believed to be a slight strain of a hamstring, is that he felt it coming on shortly after the start of the second half against Derby and was taken off as a precaution. The hamstring strain is a diagnosis that is somehow in conflict with the side of one of Pompey's physios, attending Murphy sitting on the ground, holding Murphy's foot, rather than addressing the location of a possible hamstring strain. John Massino is growing famous for managing team news and injury updates in a way that keeps the opposition guessing, and his 50-50 claim of Portsmouth's most feared player could turn out to be another piece of leisure domain.

0:55

Elsewhere there is no further news on the exact date of a return for Shocknessy or Knight, although the understanding is that Berwood has recovered from turning his ankle over and Matthews is declaring himself fit for a full 90-minute service, even though the manager may feel that with the intensity of fixtures in the offing, he's one player who could benefit from a rest. Marlon Pack continues to press for a starting place, but Dezel and now Kosnefsky are probably ahead of him in the pecking order. Up front if Murphy makes the starting line-up, the forward line should look the same as against Derby. Pompey's official preview of the QPR game reads thus. The Premier League may have just a solitary match being played, but the tradition of Boxing Day football remains alive and well in the EFL.

1:36

And Pompey will want to ensure there is still plenty of festive cheer when they welcome Queen's Park Rangers to Fratton Park, 3pm kick-off. John Masseno's men can approach the contest with confidence, having ended a three-match winless run, by beating Blackburn and drawing at Derby before Christmas.

What is the status of Josh Murphy's injury and his chances to play?

1:54

But they come up against a side who have emerged triumphant in five of their past seven championship fixtures. They enjoyed an impressive 4-1 victory over Leicester on home soil in their most recent outing, ensuring it was a miserable return to Loftus Road for previous boss Martí Cifuentes. His replacement Julien Stephane, who guided Rennes to Coupe de France glory in 2019, had a difficult start to life in London, with a 7-1 hammering at Coventry the undoubted lowlight. But Rangers have recovered in impressive fashion and currently sit in seventh position, just a single point outside the play-off positions. Pompey's 2-1 victory in the capital was their first win last season, while goals from Josh Murphy and Matt Ritchie ensured the 2-1 scoreline was repeated when the sides met on the south coast back in February.

2:39

Yeah, it's interesting. A winless run of three games is recorded and publicised like that. they have been winless in their last three games. We're undefeated in our last two games, but it doesn't run off the tongue quite so easily. And also it's far less impressive than a winless run of three games is depressing. That's just the way of language and the way of football. But a lot of people are making a lot of the fact that QPR are rather on song. And certainly the fact that they are just one place off the playoffs suggests that they've got a lot going for them. But we have also had something of a turnaround, for sure. Don't you think? Don't you agree? A lot of people are saying it. I think it's the case.

3:23

Do you think it's the case? We are turning things around. Doesn't mean to say we're going to come out head and shoulders above QPR on Friday, but it does mean that we're going to give them a better game than we would have done two or three or four weeks ago. That's for sure, isn't it? So, QPR, Friday, 3pm. Bring it on. John Massino is talking about Pompey's potential as a goal-scoring team. We've got options in terms of backups to where we've been to Colby as that frontliner that won't be a priority of ours.