Joe Gallen on why Portsmouth are already missing Kenny Jackett's influence

The Blues boss watched last night’s dismal 3-1 defeat at Bristol Rovers on iFollow as he self-isolated ahead of Thursday’s operation to remove a mole on his forearm.

Assistant manager Gallen and first-team coach Jake Wigley instead took the reins, while communicating via telephone with Jackett throughout the match.

The manager is expected to be absent for two weeks, ruling him out of another four matches.

And Gallen, who has served by Jackett’s side at four clubs, conceded the manager would be missed during his period of convalescing.

He said: ‘Kenny’s having an operation on Thursday, but my belief is he will be back pretty soon.

‘I don’t know, I’m not a doctor, so it’s tough for me to give the diagnosis, but knowing Kenny like I do, I think he’ll be back in the next week or so.

‘He’ll have the operation and some sort of recuperation required, he’ll be back pretty soon.

‘You would always miss him, if any manager of any company or any team is not around then the players may have slightly missed him.

‘Kenny has a lot of experience and is heading towards 1,000 games, which is pretty unheard of in English football.

‘Of course we are going to miss him being not around. He’s very experienced and a very good manager.