Michael Skubala gave an update on Reeco Hackett following City’s vital victory against Oxford United.
The Imps pulled themselves back into the playoff battle on Tuesday night with a hard-fought three points at the Kassam Stadium. Danny Mandroiu’s penalty was enough to secure a win, even with Dylan Duffy receiving his second yellow card towards the end of the 90 minutes.
Hackett was an unfortunate casualty in the opening ten minutes, after the winger landed straight onto his shoulder after a challenge from an Oxford United midfielder. The former Pompey man was replaced by Duffy with just eight minutes on the clock.
Skubala provided an update on Hackett and it’s not good news for the St. Lucian international.
He said: “We think he’s dislocated his shoulder. He landed on his shoulder so he’s gone straight to hospital, I actually don’t know where we are [with the injury], I’ve just heard he’s dislocated the shoulder.”
Hackett’s replacement, Duffy, also provided a talking point from the game, being given his marching orders for a second yellow card in the final ten minutes of the game. The red card didn’t matter for the Imps, with Oxford failing to level the game so Skubala chose not to talk too much about the young Irishman post-match.
He added: “I don’t want that to spoil the night. Maybe he could’ve stayed on his feet a little longer but it’s just one of those things.”
City have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last three games, but managed to secure a shut-out down at Oxford, which saw goalkeeper Lukas Jensen move to the top of the League One cleansheet table.
The Danish goalkeeper is in the golden glove race with Pompey’s Will Norris, Blackpool’s Daniel Grimshaw and Derby’s Joe Wildsmith. City’s number one leads the way with 19 ahead of his rivals all on 18. Skubala seems pleased for Jensen, but was also quick to highlight the work of the entire team to maintain such an impressive defensive record.
Skubala continued: “I think it’s a remarkable achievement for the whole team because of the way we put pressure on the ball, the way we stop crosses, the way we press the teams and eventually when it comes in we have Lukas to do what he does.
“We work really hard in our defensive shape out of possession and I think it’s credit to him as he has to make big saves and come for crosses like he did today. It’s also credit to the team as everyone is working hard in front of him.”