Portsmouth prepared to strike quickfire new signings – ‘We are ready’
John Mousinho has revealed Portsmouth are hoping to have players through the door at Fratton Park before facing Blackburn Rovers.
Pompey visit Blackburn on 15 January in a rearranged trip from back in November, after trips to Sunderland [5 January] and Wycombe Wanderers of League One in the FA Cup third round [10 January].
Speaking to The News [1 January], the head coach gave his assessment on the awkwardness of the early part of the winter window.
“There probably won’t be any signings before the Sunderland game, that might be too soon. But, if something opens up, we are ready to move quickly on it,” Mousinho explained.
“What we find with loans, in particular, is that a lot of clubs aren’t willing to let players go before the third round of the FA Cup. Also, not many clubs are willing to let players go that quickly in the first 2-5 days of the window.
“Certainly our target will be to possibly have players in the building by the Blackburn game, which is the next league match after Sunderland.”
Portsmouth under pressure to deliver in January
Football is the most fickle of beasts, and the convincing 4-0 win over Swansea City on New Year’s Day has relieved the pressure slightly of Portsmouth fans demanding January activity.
By contrast, that gradient could again rapidly rise with a poor result away at Sunderland four days later; Pompey’s form on the road has certainly been shy of excellent in the Championship and it is the first of three straight away games.
The Blues know the weaknesses in the squad, and certainly in terms of depth. There remain square pegs in round holes which cannot be sustainable throughout the entire second half of the season in a survival battle.
The stakes are high – all the hard work the club dedicated towards returning to the second tier cannot be unravelled after 12 mere months. Enough has to be done to remain above at least three rivals this term.
The consensus is a confidence that a couple of established recruits would go a long way to achieving that, with many of the most experienced players in the squad having been those to lift Pompey out of sticky situations during the first half of the season.
In other Portsmouth news, an established youth coach at Fratton Park departs for an elite Premier League club.
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