Pompey boss unsure if left-back hunt will succeed

Kenny Jackett has admitted he is unsure whether Pompey will succeed in their left-back hunt before the end of the transfer window.
Pompey boss Kenny Jackett Picture: Joe PeplerPompey boss Kenny Jackett Picture: Joe Pepler
Pompey boss Kenny Jackett Picture: Joe Pepler

The Blues are working hard to identify a replacement for Tareiq Holmes-Dennis following his season-long sidelining.

The Huddersfield man himself had been signed on loan by Jackett following a painstaking search.

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Now Pompey’s boss is back in the market seeking another recruit for the role vacated by Enda Stevens in the summer.

At present, Brandon Haunstrup is the sole left-back in the squad, while Academy player Joe Hancott featured against Fulham under-21s in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Regardless, Jackett has made a new full-back signing his transfer window priority.

Yet it is proving a frustrating search.

He said: ‘There is nobody imminent at the moment.

‘We have been round once already when we took Tareiq in and have spent a lot of time looking at full-backs this summer.

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‘From the first list we had, quite a number of them have now gone. However, this is something we’ve had to revisit through the severe nature of Tareiq’s injury.

‘We’ll see if we get one before the transfer window ends, we’re working hard towards doing it. Whether we will or not, I don’t know.

‘We want to try to do it – but is there anyone imminent? No.’

Haunstrup is set to keep his place in the starting XI for Saturday’s visit of Walsall, having been rested in the Checkatrade Trophy.

The 3-3 draw would see Hancott become Pompey’s youngest debutant at the age of 16 years and 161 days.

The Ryde youngster is a first-year apprentice.

– NEIL ALLEN