Niall Currie fears Portadown could be without star defender for 'five or six weeks'
Portadown manager Niall Currie fears his side could be without Lewis MacKinnon for “five or six weeks” due to an ankle injury while they’re also sweating on the fitness of Rabby Minzamba after he was forced off during Saturday’s Premiership defeat to Ballymena United.
Former Rangers youngster MacKinnon arrived at Shamrock Park last summer from Carrick Rangers and has been a mainstay in a Portadown defence which has kept 10 clean sheets – only Linfield (14) and Dungannon Swifts (11) have collected more.
The 21-year-old has made 27 league appearances and formed an impressive partnership with Baris Altintop which has laid the solid foundations for the Ports’ dream top-flight return, currently sitting sixth and with their targets set on a top-half finish.
Currie’s men had put together an unbeaten run of three, drawing with Larne and Cliftonville before beating the Inver Reds, prior to Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at the Ballymena Showgrounds, where January recruit Minzamba was substituted on the stroke of half-time.
The 23-year-old has shone since arriving from Leinster Senior League side Montpelier, making seven league appearances and scored a first goal against leaders Linfield last month, and Currie hopes it isn’t a serious issue.
"Lewis is going to be a month at least,” he told the club’s media channel. “He has a really, really bad sprain of his ankle which we’re hoping isn’t too serious in regards to his ligaments.
"He’s going to be five or six weeks by the looks of it.
"The Rabby one is a huge blow as well but we don’t know yet and we’ll have to wait to see when it settles down.
"We will get a good look at it on Tuesday night and hopefully it’s not too long-term because he has been very good for us.
"We would miss him big time and it’s coming to that time of the season...we’re picking up a couple – Gary (Thompson) is only back today after being out for two or three weeks.
"We need to get all our big guns out on the pitch for sure.”
The race for a top-six spot continues to heat up with both Ballymena and Coleraine, who Portadown face on Saturday, picking up victories to keep themselves in contention while only 11 points separates third-placed Dungannon and Glenavon in tenth.
Currie knows collecting points is crucial and has called for his side to get “back to basics” ahead of a vital period.
"I’ve said it many times, this is the way this season is – if you don’t get things right on any given day...we put in three brilliant performances the last three weeks but you have to show Ballymena the same respect as you show Cliftonville, Larne, Linfield and Glentoran,” he added. “I’m just disappointed.
"We weren’t at our levels. We very easily could have came away with a draw but we didn’t manage the game properly.
"We had a good chat in the changing room and everybody is always open and honest. We have to get back to basics and being that disciplined, hard-working team and we know we can hurt teams offensively.”