Portsmouth 0 York City 1: Worthington is left fuming by injuries

Top scorer Wes Fletcher and Northern Ireland international Josh Carson suffered suspected medial ligament damage during a bruising contest at Fratton Park, decided by Michael Coulson’s fourth-minute goal.

Home captain Ben Chorley was sent off for the 50th-minute challenge on Fletcher that left York chief Nigel Worthington angry at the final whistle.

“The challenge on Wes was a bad one,” fumed Worthington. “There was no intent to go for the ball at all.

“I never like to see anybody sent off but that was nasty. It would be disappointing to lose two players because it disrupts what we have been doing, but that’s the game of football.

“You have to deal with these things and it opens the door for somebody else to step in and be a part of maintaining what we have been doing.”

The Minstermen moved into the League Two play-off positions for the first time this season after Coulson drilled an edge of the area effort into goalkeeper Trevor Carson’s bottom left-hand corner.

After Chorley was given his marching orders, the visitors should have then extended their lead but Ryan Jarvis and Ryan Bowman both squandered excellent opportunities inside the six-yard area.

Jarvis headed wide from Will Hayhurst’s free-kick and Bowman mis-kicked in front of an open goal from Ben Davies’s cross.

Portsmouth: Carson, Alefi, Chorley, N’Gala, Shorey; Whatmough; Wallace, McCabe (Holmes, 71), Diagouraga; Jervis, Taylor. Unused substitutes: Smith, Devera, Bradley, Fogden, Agyemang, Drennan.

York City: Pope; Oyebanjo, Lowe, McCombe, Davies; Carson (Fletcher, 35, Jarvis, 53), Penn, Reed, Hayhurst; Bowman, Coulson. Unused substitutes: McGurk, Ingham, Puri, Montrose, Platt.

Referee: R East (Wiltshire)

Man of the match: Adam Reed.