Portsmouth midfielder Papa Bouba Diop is out for three months with a knee injury.

The Senegalese strained ligaments in his right knee while attempting to make a challenge in Pompey's Barclays Premier League defeat at Arsenal on December 28.

And after visiting a consultant, head physio Gary Sadler confirmed that the former Fulham enforcer will be out for a minimum of 12 weeks, with damage to Diop's posterior cruciate ligament a particular worry.

"We'll be taking him back to see the consultant in six weeks and then we'll know a little bit more about it then," Sadler told his club's official website, portsmouthfc.co.uk.

"He's in a brace and he's having treatment trying to get some of the swelling down on his knee."