No Silva lining for Pompey
Portsmouth will be without key striker Dario Silva when they embark on a series of daunting fixtures against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday week.
The veteran Uruguayan, 33, has travelled home to play for his country in the two-leg World Cup play-off against Australia.
And Pompey manager Alain Perrin admits: “Coming back from Australia after the second match on the Wednesday, I cannot be very hopeful he will be fit to play against Liverpool on the Saturday.”
Perrin, who then faces consecutive matches against Chelsea (home), Manchester United (away) and Tottenham (away), gambled on Silva’s fitness after the player had sat on the bench all match when Uruguay beat Argentina to qualify for the play-offs last month.
But the little striker’s legs let him down in the 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough two days after a 22-hour flight and he had to be replaced at half-time.
Silva has provided some of the few moments of brightness for Pompey fans who soon felt the wind knocked out of their sails by Wigan on Saturday – just a week after a 4-1 romp at Sunderland.
Silva, a free transfer from Spain’s Sevilla, scored his second goal in as many games at the Stadium of Light and was inches away from adding another with a brave header in the opening minutes against Wigan when his header dipped over the crossbar.
But second-in-the-table Wigan won 2-0 to leave Pompey just two points clear of the bottom three, still looking for their first home win of the season.
Perrin recalled: “Silva only came back to us on the Friday after the Argentina game but said he felt OK to play at Middlesbrough, but he looked very tired by half--time.
“I did not have too much choice because (Svetoslav) Todorov and (Collins) Mbesuma were still not fit enough to play a full game while Azar Karadas and Ivica Mornar were injured. Now they are back and we have more choices. Also Lomana Lualua has returned to the squad, although he trained for only 10 days since being told the malaria was out of his body.”
Todorov, who has been out of the Pompey starting line-up for 19 months after recovering from two serious operations on a knee, is also returning to the international scene with Bulgaria against Georgia next Saturday following an absence of more than two years.
And midfielder Zvonimir Vukic is in the Serbia & Montenegro squad for their friendly with Croatia.
