Leeds United's opening day opponents Portsmouth given injury boost following pre-season setback
Leeds United host Portsmouth on the opening day of the new Championship season
Portsmouth boss John Mousinho has confirmed that Tom McIntrye will be fit enough to take on Leeds United in just under a fortnight's time. McIntyre was forced to limp out of Portsmouth's pre-season friendly clash with Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday, a game that the newly promoted outfit lost 4-0.
The defender joined Portsmouth in January but after breaking his ankle on his debut, he has only made one competitive appearance for the south coast club. As such, the news that he was withdrawn due to injury will concern Pompey fans, who will be hoping to see the defender play a key role in the Championship this season.
However, Mousinho has moved to allay any fears of a lay off, with McIntyre being withdrawn due to muscle tightness.
"Tom came off, but it was just a tight hamstring," the Pompey boss said. "He’s absolutely fine."
McIntyre looks set to partner former Leeds man Conor Shaughnessy at the heart of Portsmouth's defence this season and Portsmouth short of other options, the news of his fitness will come as a boost ahead of the club's trip to Elland Road on August 10.
Portsmouth have had a busy summer so far, with six new signings being made as they prepare themselves for the challenge of Leeds. Reuben Swann, Jordan Archer, Josh Murphy, Jordan Williams and Jacob Farrell have all made permanent moves to Fratton Park, while Samuel Silvera has joined on loan from Middlesbrough.
More deals are expected to be done by Mousinho's side, though, with defensive reinforcements said to be something the club are still looking to address.
Asked about the possibility of more signings before their trip to West Yorkshire, Mousinho said: “I think so, that would be the aim. We wanted to do our business early and it has been a bit slower in this window, but we’d like to do as much as we can over the next couple of weeks.
“If you said it was like this at the start of pre-season, I would have said (more players) was necessary. We don’t want to put a number on it, if we can get good players through the door we’ll get good players through the door.
“There’s definitely work to be done. That’s not just after the Wycombe result, we always identified we wanted a couple more players at least.”
Saturday's loss was Portsmouth's first setback over pre-season, with wins coming over Gosport Borough, Havant and Waterlooville and Bognor Regis Town before the club's summer camp in Croatia. They take on MK Dons on Tuesday night before bringing their pre-season campaign to a close in south London against Charlton Athletic.