Sunderland striker Charlie Wyke has been struggling with injury for much of his time at the Stadium of Light so far.
Sunderland are set to take on Pompey at Fratton Park at the weekend, but Wyke won’t be making the long journey with the rest of his teammates.
Instead, the target-man will remain on Wearside, where he will be playing for Sunderland’s under-23’s, as he searches for more match sharpness.
“Charlie will play in a bounce game on Friday, so he won’t travel,” said Ross. “He will be with the Under-23s and that will be him. He has trained for the last two and a half weeks, and played a bit of in-house football.
“He played in a bounce match last week and he will play 90 minutes Friday and then that’s him. If he comes through that OK then potentially he will be close to the squad for Boxing Day to face Bradford.
“Hopefully we will be able to use him over this schedule between now and Charlton. He looks good, better than he did first time around, which was my fault for rushing him last time. He is in good place physically which is encouraging.”
Wyke was expected to be Sunderland’s main man up-front when he was brought in over the summer, but he has barely made an impact at the Stadium of Light so far.
The powerful forward has suffered badly with injuries, which have kept him out of Sunderland’s squad for much of the season.
Wyke’s return to full health will be good news for Sunderland, as he has previously proven to be a major weapon at League One level.
If the Black Cats can win in Wyke’s absence at Portsmouth then Jack Ross’ side’s promotion chances would be considerably boosted.
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