Portsmouth boss John Mousinho says his side are not where they envisaged they would be at the start of the campaign.
Pompey sit 17th in the Championship and have only managed three wins so far, suffering a 2-1 defeat by table-toppers Coventry City on Tuesday.
Mousinho hopes to welcome back Callum Lang and Josh Murphy for the visit of Stoke City on Saturday (12:30 BST), but Adrian Segecic will not make it.
“Callum is progressing nicely, he’s still on time,” he told BBC Radio Solent.
“Adrian Segecic would have undoubtably been in for selection on Saturday, it would have been a good time for him to come back, we’ve sent him for an MRI.
“Josh Murphy will be in contention for the bench but not to start the game.”
Mousinho is expecting a tough encounter against Stoke, who lie sixth, seven points off the top.
“They have had a very good start to the season, they’re extremely solid defensively,” he added.
“They’ve added a couple of players, particularly Sorba Thomas and Divin Mubama.
“It gives them real physicality and strength, they’ve added to a squad that was already pretty strong in my opinion.”
Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.
