Why Portsmouth winger hopes severed finger won't stop him facing Sunderland at Wembley

The 22-year-old required surgery to save his severed finger last week after a freak accident left him in agony.

Curtis, who has scored 12 goals in 42 appearances for Pompey this season, trapped his finger in his front door and was told he would face 'four to six weeks' on the sidelines.

That would rule Curtis out of the Checkatrade Trophy clash with Sunderland on March 31, yet the winger hasn't given up hope on playing at Wembley.

"It’s been estimated between four to six weeks," said Jackett after his side's 2-0 win over Scunthorpe on Saturday.

"I would think somewhere between two and three weeks will give him some training sessions and see how he feels.

"Ronan is talking very positively, which is a start. But for me we need to see how long, it is too early to say whether he’ll play at Wembley."

"We have to now give it to a stage where the stitches are out, there has to be an initial two-week period, definitely.

"He’ll have the stitches out, infection is a big thing and we’ll get a splint made up.

"I would think somewhere between two and three weeks will give him some training sessions and see how he feels. ‘But he’ll be giving it a go, that’s a certainty.’

Curtis was forced to pull-out of the latest Republic of Ireland squad ahead of their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia.

He will also miss Pompey's League One fixture at Shrewsbury next weekend.