Ian Darke tells Portsmouth to get a rush on with improvement that could bank them millions

Ian Darke has defended recent comments by Rich Hughes on the lack of an Under-21 team at Portsmouth but said the club need to get a rush on in creating a better academy.

Hughes conversed with a supporter on the matter at the Pompey Supporters' Trust Q&A [11 November], claiming U21 football does not provide the same level of intensity.

Blues fan and TV commentator Darke, speaking exclusively to Pompey News, sees where the sporting director is coming from, though thinks they need to start blooding more talent that could make them lucrative money in the transfer market.

"I think I agree. If you look at Premier League Under-21 teams, they find it hard to get results against hardened pros from teams in League One and League Two," he said.

"That probably is too big a jump, so I wouldn't be in any great hurry to have an U21 team.

"But there needs to be more rush for a better academy which can earn the club millions of pounds in the transfer market."

Portsmouth lost all their second-year scholars

With no U21 team in place and the subject being regularly brought up, the second-year scholars at the club all departed in the summer.

The Under-18 side overseen by Sam Hudson, who are in a rich vein of form, are comprised mainly of first-year scholars, aged 16 and 17.

Young players on the fringes are usually sought loans by the club, who are competing with an oversized squad.

In other Portsmouth news, a call to drop Kusini Yengi against Blackburn Rovers this weekend.

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