Pompey could go with an unchanged side at Yeovil after revealing Gary Roberts has been handed a Christmas holiday.

Paul Cook said he had taken the midfielder out of the firing line for a couple of games - and he would not be involved at Huish Park.

That is likely to mean another two-striker line-up with Conor Chaplin pushing Noel Hunt for the right to partner Michael Smith in the frontline.

Roberts is thought likely to be back in the squad when Luton visit Fratton on Monday.

Cook told The News: 'Gary’s going to have a break for a couple of games. He won’t be involved at Yeovil. I told him to go away with his family and have a couple of days’ rest. We want him to come back in and have that reception from the fans good players deserve.

‘We want that because we’re going to need him. He needs taking out of the firing line to freshen up. We want him to come back and give us all the lift he’s capable of producing. Our fans need to realise this man lives for this club. He gives absolutely everything for the cause. He loves this club and feels it.’

Cook added: ‘The sort of pitch Newport County had would never have suited him. ‘If we’d beat Hartlepool we’d have still given him the break because that was the plan.

'The fans end up thinking he’s been dropped. There’s no dropping Gary Roberts. There’s no dropping someone like him. Come on. Be better than that.’

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