Verdict: Mounting injuries haven't helped Portsmouth's promotion hopes - but Blues aren't playing well either

That's the view of The News’ chief sports writer, Neil Allen, regardless of the injuries that have impacted Danny Cowley’s squad in recent weeks.

Flak has been directed at the Blues from sections of the Fratton faithful as they question the squad’s promotion credentials following a run of one win in seven games.

Injuries have, no doubt, played a key part in that with seven first-team names unavailable for Saturday’s frustrating draw against Shrewsbury.

Meanwhile, Sean Raggett and Zak Swanson also picked up issues and were withdrawn while the score remained at 1-1.

Allen has every sympathy for Pompey as there appears no let-up on the injury front.

But he insists the recent run of dropped points shouldn’t just be down to an over-crowded treatment room.

Speaking in the latest edition of Pompey Talk, Allen said: ‘Pompey’s failure to break down Shrewsbury was not entirely down to injuries.

‘We need more from Owen Dale, who was excellent in the first half but dropped off in the second, and we need more from Josh Koroma.

‘Joe Pigott came on but didn’t make any impact and has struggled recently.

‘Colby Bishop and Dane Scarlett couldn’t break them down either.

‘Ronan Curtis wasn’t used but he’s been in poor form this season.

‘The attacking players have to find a way through against Shrewsbury.

‘That’s not Josh Griffiths, Connor Ogilvie or the two central midfielders' fault, but you have to rely on the attacking players to find a way through.

‘The other side of that is, if Pompey had been at full strength, they would’ve had a greater chance of beating Shrewsbury. That can’t be argued.

‘If you’ve got Marlon Pack, Tom Lowery, Louis Thompson all in there, they would’ve improved the team.

‘I thought Joe Morrell did really well when he came off the bench for his comeback from injury.

‘Injuries have had an impact in the centre of midfield. The Blues are a better team when any of those four players feature.

‘When Pompey played Bognor in pre-season 10 days before the campaign started, it was an XI which included kids, fringe players and out-of-favour players.

‘Three of those players, Swanson, Tunnicliffe and Mingi, have started in Pompey’s previous three league games.

‘Mingi and Tunnicliffe are Cowley’s fifth and sixth choice central midfielders, of course the injuries are going to have an impact.

‘At this stage, Mingi is not better than Pack, Lowery or Thompson.

‘The club were trying to get Tunnicliffe on a plane to Australia all summer and he’s in the team now.

‘Pompey can’t bring in their seventh central midfielder until January, they’ve just got to ride through it. As a consequence, results and performances are bound to dip.

‘The team’s not playing well, they dropped points at home to Fleetwood before a lot of the injuries took shape.

‘They drew against Oxford last week, they failed to break down a very negative Shrewsbury and they did just enough to beat Forest Green.

‘Results have dipped but it could be their own fault for setting the bar so high at the start of the season.

‘It was two points dropped against Oxford and Shrewsbury, which is the concern.

‘You have to look at it with mitigation, they’re not as good as they were because of injuries.

‘They’re not firing on all cylinders at all but when big players start to come back, that could change things for the better.’