Portsmouth boss keen to splash the cash on permanent arrivals

And he is adamant money is available to fund the Blues’ recruitment drive.

Pompey numbers have suffered another blow following David Wheeler’s recall by QPR.

He joins Andre Green and Ben Thompson in returning to their parent clubs midway through a scheduled season-long loan.

Joe Mason’s loan has also expired, while Danny Rose has joined Swindon after a mutually-agreed exit.

In the meantime, the League One table-toppers have brought in Andy Cannon and Bryn Morris for undisclosed fees – but remain short of bodies.

The January 31 deadline is looming, yet Jackett insists he possesses the finances to bring in the fresh faces urgently required.

Pompey’s boss said: ‘Yes, there is money to spend.

‘In terms of where those funds are used, I would suggest looking for what we call progressive players. They have stood me in good stead, not just here but in all my career.

‘But finding the right player at the right price is something which can help us.

‘There is some flexibility in the budget, definitely. The backing is there, it’s actually finding the right players.

‘Obviously, we can see we are light of forward options with everything we’ve got to go through in the next few months.

‘Now we work hard to address it in the period left for January.

‘It would always be my preference to take permanents, so if it needs to be a loan then we’ll do it. We won’t hesitate if it’s the right player.

‘As a manager, though, I would prefer permanent players. It does make more sense.

‘Sometimes there's not a lot of sense in football, you just have to win, but for the planning of a club it is better. 

‘If you can take players with some decent experience and of an age still on the up, it can protect the club in the future.

‘It’s easy to bring players in, there’s plenty of people who want to come to Portsmouth, they phone me every day.

‘But it’s ones I want to work with and, most importantly, ones that can help the club.’

Presently, there is not a single loan player at Fratton Park.

And despite his preference for permanent deals, Jackett is continuing to also scour the loan market.

He added: ‘We have no loans at the moment, which is quite unusual.

‘We don’t particularly like to base it on loans anyway, I would like our own players and a high number of developing players.

‘In terms of our squad and the team we put out, we were fourth youngest for quite a while, for us that’s something we want to keep addressing.

‘In the circumstances now, though, if it was a loan then we would have no hesitation.’