Pompey Talk puts the international break firmly behind us as focus once again turns to the Blues' Championship exploits. On this week’s show, head of sport Mark McMahon and chief sports writer Neil Allen discuss the returns of Callum Lang and Kusini Yengi from injury, plus Conor Shaughnessy's ongoing calf issues. The duo also put football to one side as they wish Pompey legend Alan Knight the best of luck in his battle with cancer.
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00:00Yeah, Mercy played with Lang at Burnley. But yeah, obviously at that stage,
00:08Yengyi wasn't available for a start, was he? So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see how
00:13them... Lang is Pompey's... I'd say best of the ten, but to be fair, Sadie's done really
00:21well this season, hasn't he? In different roles as well, but you want Lang there. Lang
00:25performed better there than Lang, for example. So that energy, and there was a goal threat
00:30from Lang as well. But yeah, and then up front, Oman has done very well, hasn't he? And Yengyi
00:35is certainly challenging him. It's just more options, because Pompey hadn't been creating
00:40a lot, hadn't been scoring a lot. They should have beaten Oxford United. So, suddenly, that
00:47makes him better. And I know we'll get into shot-missing soon, but when he's back fit,
00:51that makes Pompey better. So some of these players coming back will improve them. And
00:56you need these big players, and they were big players I mentioned last year. Lang was
01:00important in the end of the season, wasn't he? Yengyi and Shocknessy. When they're back
01:04in the squad again, available, that improves Pompey's chances of trying to win matches.
01:09But without doubt, we've seen Blair thrown up into the central striker as an emergency
01:15at Burnley, and also against Oxford. And he's not a central striker. He's not strong enough.
01:20He can't hold the ball up. He gets dispossessed. But they've had no-one else, and they're hoping
01:24that with his movement pace, he can cause problems. But this is his first ever senior
01:29season. He's learning, and Pompey needs to ease him into situations, which they have
01:35largely. But he's also started me, and didn't quite come off at Stoke, being played out
01:41of position, as I'll just give you an example. So, again, Harvey Blair coming on up front,
01:46or senior Yengyi? The answer's obviously he's going to be better. It's an interesting one,
01:51because that was for a home game. They're away from home now, so he's very much tailored
01:55to try to overcome Oxford United. But away from home, he might go to his tried and trusted
02:00formula. But I thought it worked OK against Oxford, despite not getting the victory. And
02:05it was a must-win game. I'm glad he said that. I said it before. I'm glad John Maciena described
02:09it as a must-win game, because I think most of us surely thought it was a must-win game.
02:16But it was a must-win game, because John Maciena described it as a must-win game.