Portsmouth's Championship Challenge: Managing a Deep Yet Fragile Squad

The Championship does not let up. Managers and players repeat it so often it sounds like a cliché, but they know exactly what they’re talking about.

Portsmouth, though, have been living a slightly different reality.

A bizarre postponement against Wolves has left John Mousinho’s side with just one midweek fixture so far. Now comes a three-week gap, with only four players expected to disappear on international duty. In a division that usually chews through squads by October, it’s an oddly gentle start.

And yet Mousinho has already turned to 28 different players in the league. Only three have started every Championship game. Just seven have lasted 90 minutes more than once.

That tells its own story.

A deep squad, but a patched-up one

On paper, this is the deepest Pompey squad in years. Mousinho loves his five substitutions and has never been shy about using the bench. This season, though, rotation hasn’t just been about tactical tweaks or fresh legs. It’s been about who is actually fit enough to get through games.

Several new arrivals have turned up needing to catch up physically. Marko Milovanovic, Jayden Meghoma and Tyrese Shade all arrived short of full fitness, their training disrupted by looming transfers. Shade and Milovanovic in particular had limited work under their belts before signing. Milovanovic has since picked up a minor injury.

Abu Kamara was eased in carefully at the start as well, his minutes managed rather than maximised.

Then there’s Ryan Kavuma-McQueen. Just 17, already trusted, and already being protected. Pompey are right to be cautious with him – not least because he’s playing with a broken hand.

The knocks haven’t stopped there. Three wingers – Josh Murphy, Keshi Anderson and now Luke Brooke-Smith – have all gone down. One wide man missing is unfortunate. Three starts to feel like the footballing gods are having a laugh.

Marlon Pack missed the opening stretch of the season. Regan Poole has been troubled by a hamstring. Zak Swanson and Ebou Adams carried issues from the back end of last season into the summer and beyond.

Conor Shaughnessy, one of the pillars of the side when fit, looked close to his best last weekend. Yet he sat out the only midweek game so far, and Mousinho is still refusing to guarantee he can handle playing twice a week. The last two seasons have been littered with interruptions for him.

Plates spinning, tests coming

Every squad in the Championship has injuries. Portsmouth are not hard done by in some unique way. But by the end of September, Mousinho will want the bulk of his core players capable of getting through 90 minutes without a second thought.

So far, it has felt like he’s been spinning plates. The difference this year is that the table is bigger. There are more options, more combinations, more ways to get through a game. But the balancing act remains.

That is why this three-week break frustrates him. Just as some rhythm starts to appear, the season slams on the brakes. And waiting on the other side is a schedule that looks brutal.

The South Coast derby is the spark that lights a punishing run: five matches in 14 days, eight in 28. High stakes, high intensity, and very little room for error.

In that spell, Mousinho can’t afford to rely on 60-minute players. He will need a squad full of footballers who can go the distance, week after week, game after game. The juggling act that has defined the opening weeks is about to get harder.

The Championship rarely shows mercy. Portsmouth are about to find out just how ready they really are.