Pompey closing in on new training ground home

That is the view of Guy Whittingham, who has been boosted by developments in recent days.

The Blues have received several offers considered realistic as they seek to switch from Eastleigh at the start of next month. Whittingham is now running through those put forward.

The fall-back option is Fratton Park, although for the caretaker boss that is the worst-case scenario.

He said: ‘Fratton is not a foregone conclusion, that is option Z.

‘Things have moved on since the end of last week and I am very encouraged.

‘We have got three or four opportunities with different establishments in and around Portsmouth that have contacted us and said “come and look at this facility”.

‘We are very, very thankful to them and will look at those opportunities and see if we can make them to the standards we require in the short time we’ve got.

‘I want to thank them for that because it gives us options.

‘We are not near a resolution yet. They only contacted us since the end of last week, so we need to go and talk to the powers that be about these different places and see if it can be done.’

Pompey are scheduled to leave the Wellington Sports Ground at the end of January.

It brings to an end 11 years based in Eastleigh, having moved there from HMS Collingwood.

The University of Portsmouth’s Langstone Campus had been a long-term candidate as a training ground, yet it fell through following a meeting last week.