Diarra scare for Pompey

Star midfielder Lassana Diarra has given Portsmouth a scare after hobbling off injured in a pre-season friendly at Oxford.

First-half goals by Papa Bouba Diop and Jermain Defoe were enough to give Pompey a 2-1 victory on Monday night at the non-league club where their former manager Jim Smith is now a director.

An ankle injury suffered by £5.5m former Chelsea and Arsenal ace Diarra has thrown a cloud over the FA Cup holders’ preparations for Sunday’s Community Shield clash with Premier League champions Manchester United at Wembley.

This was the Frenchman’s first pre-season outing having been given extra time off by his club this summer following Euro 2008.

Now, after selling Ghana’s Sulley Muntari to Inter Milan for £12m, Pompey could be alarmingly short of midfield power for the Wembley game if Diarra fails to make a quick recovery.

Striker Defoe lifted some of the gloom with his fifth goal in six pre-season outings with a typically clinical piece of finishing – watched by England coach and under-21 manager Stuart Pearce.

Manager Harry Redknapp made 10 changes in the Pompey team at half-time – ahead of another friendly tonight away to last season’s other FA Cup heroes Havant and Waterlooville.

But coach Joe Jordan was not impressed by the performance, admitting “We can play much better – and we will need to.”