Town boss Paul Cook has revealed right-back Kane Vincent-Young will be on the bench at Portsmouth tomorrow, ending the former Colchester man’s 17-month injury absence.
The 25-year-old’s last Town match was the 3-1 win at Southend in October 2019 with a groin problem, which required surgery twice, subsequently ruling him out of the rest of that campaign.
The former Tottenham youngster returned in pre-season but suffered an achilles problem which sidelined him until early this year.
In February, just as he was about to get back into match action, Vincent-Young hyperextended his knee, putting him out for another six weeks.
But now the Londoner, who made a huge impression in his first nine games for the club prior to his injury problems, is ready to make his return to the squad.
"You’ll all know the lad, he’s been out injured for a long time, he’s had a really rigorous programme of training and work,” Cook said. "He’s worked really hard behind the scenes and he’s joined in a session or two, and why not?
"He’s travelling with us tomorrow, I think he’ll be on the bench tomorrow 100 per cent. By the time we get him through tomorrow into the next week or the full week’s training again with us, we’ll need to see Kane on the pitch, that’s for sure.”
Asked whether Vincent-Young was the type of full-back he likes, Cook joked: "I’ve got to play two tomorrow that I like! Listen, in the modern-day game, full-backs are very, very important.
"I always believe that every team can play in a modern way. If you’re a League Two team it doesn’t mean you can’t play the same way as Man City. People will say you haven’t got the players to do it.
"I want two full-backs who bomb forward and give you great energy from the sides and can deal with crosses and give you much more of an attacking threat on both sides.
"I’m fortunate at the minute, Luke Chambers has gone to right-back. Luke Chambers has been an outstanding centre-half for our club, he’s gone to right-back to help us out, he’s done that admirably, but going forward, we must have left-backs and right-backs that can penetrate.”