Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett lays down plans to deal with fixture pile-up

Kenny Jackett can see a fixture pile-up on the horizon for Pompey.
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And the Blues boss explained the demands of the campaign factored heavily into his thinking over summer recruitment.

Pompey are already facing the prospect of a number of games being moved and added to their programme.

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International call-ups could threaten the trip to Southend of September 7, with Pompey due to go to Bury the following week but the Shakers unable to fulfil their fixtures to date.

Jackett explained planning for such issues was why he’s been making eight additions to his squad.

He said: ‘We’ve been very active in terms of recruitment through the summer.

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‘Looking at the international breaks we could have three contenders or maybe four if Haji (Mnoga) gets into the England under-19s.

Pompey boss Kenny Jackett. Picture: Joe PeplerPompey boss Kenny Jackett. Picture: Joe Pepler
Pompey boss Kenny Jackett. Picture: Joe Pepler

‘There’s some contenders there, so when they come will we be short or pushing on with those games? Do we call of them off and have the backlog?

‘We have second round League Cup game at QPR and the EFL Trophy games.

‘You have the Bolton and Bury situations where games could be called off and it could leave you with spells of not playing - and then spells of a high amount of games in a short space of time.

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‘Looking ahead from my point of view is trying to plan to be as strong as possible.

‘Obviously then there will be times you have to prioritise.’

Jackett feels his squad of 25 players, including the injured Jack Whatmough and youngster Matt Casey, is now well equipped for what lies ahead in the coming months.

He said: ‘Summer’s important. If you have a bad summer you’re fighting fires all year and you don’t really get the chance to rectify it until the next summer.

‘January can be very expensive, so we’ve been very active.

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‘Our outs have been well profiled but we’ve tried to build a squad with freshness, enthusiasm and ultimately some quality.

‘The beauty of it is I have a good group to work with and the attitude of the group is very good.

‘I’m looking forward to trying to mould them into the best team they can be.

‘You always have to learn and look, but it’s a fresh season ahead of us.’

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