Does the Scotland job tempt Jack Ross & is he annoyed McGeady’s injury news was made public?

Aiden McGeady’s foot injury news - is he annoyed that the secret has been let out of the bag?

It was revealed last night by the local press that Aiden McGeady has been playing with a broken foot since sustaining his injury against Accrington.

He’s receiving pain-killing injections to get him through games and isn’t doing much in the way of training in order to ensure he’s as close to peak fitness as he can be for each game - a little bit mental, but also commendable.

Obviously, this news delighted supporters of Portsmouth who took great pleasure in ensuring their players were aware of the news - hoping that, come Saturday, someone will target McGeady and take him out of the game early doors.

McGeady has played through the injury in recent weeks and it has rightly been kept under wraps, but now that the cat is out of the bag it leaves the winger vulnerable.

Is Ross annoyed that the news got out?

You’d imagine that he would have rather this was kept private so that other teams avoid targeting his prize player, particularly ahead of a game against a team who just last month gave Portsmouth a right going over at Wembley in the Checkatrade Trophy final.

Getty Images

What does he make of speculation linking him to the Scotland job?

Lots of the talk in recent days surrounding Ross has been regarding his immediate future, with press north of the border speculating that he’s one of a few names on the Scottish FA’s shortlist to become the next Scotland manager.

The bookies’ odds suggest that Ross is an outsider to become the man to replace Alex McLeish, but it’d be interesting to hear what the Sunderland gaffer makes of the speculation. He’s spoken in the past about having an ambition to manage his country, so how seriously is he taking this supposed interest?

Some Sunderland fans remain unconvinced by Ross as our manager but the fact he’s being mentioned as a contender to become the man in charge of his country suggests that he’s highly rated as a coach.

Ross appears to be a calm and collected individual so its unlikely that the speculation is distracting him too much, but the wording of his response to being asked whether the Scotland job is something that he fancies could be interesting.

Getty Images

Where are we at elsewhere on the injury front?

George Honeyman was withdrawn early on in the second half on Monday and Lewis Morgan - who was playing really well - was brought off rather mysteriously, making some fans wonder if either of them had picked up injuries during the game.

Where are we at on the injury front ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game?

Chris Maguire has made the bench for the last two games and even got a cameo appearance towards the end of our draw at Peterborough, which suggests he’s about ready to be starting games. How close is he to being considered for a return?

If McGeady is struggling then we could do worse than give Maguire his first start since picking up an injury against Gillingham in February.

There are likely to be plenty of others who are playing through niggles and knocks right now, and with this game being perhaps our biggest of the season to this point it may well be that Ross asks some of his wounded warriors to play through the pain barrier against Pompey.