Danny Cowley has delivered a relatively upbeat and positive injury update ahead of Saturday's FA Cup second-round clash against Harrogate Town, during an interview with The News. 

Portsmouth find themselves in excellent form in the league, winning five out of their last six third-tier matches, after an inconsistent couple of months. 

However, the attention now turns to the FA Cup with Pompey possessing an excellent opportunity to make the third round of the competition.

Speaking to The News about player availability ahead of their clash with Harrogate, Cowley said: "Lee’s (Brown) got a stiff back.

"He came in Wednesday and was fine and came in Friday, started training and it stiffened up for no apparent reason really.

"We were hoping we would be able to get him through, with Reeco (Hackett-Fairchild) maybe they were both 70 per cent fit.

"We decided to go with Reeco, because he was perhaps less of a risk. Portsmouth can do without losing any more defenders.

"Credit to Reeco because he played well short of match fitness, and that’s what you need the boys to do."

The verdict 

Portsmouth still have a few injury concerns to contend with at the moment, which makes their excellent run of form in recent weeks that little bit more impressive. 

The FA Cup could be an opportunity to use players who are on the fringes of the first-team squad, but equally, they will be eager to register their place in the third round. 

Portsmouth have players that are returning from mid-term injuries, and that will be an excellent boost as they continue to make strides towards the play-off positions. 

Fixtures start to pile up over the next few weeks, meaning that Cowley will need to utilise a larger proportion of his squad.