Portsmouth boss ready to unleash Birmingham loanee

Kenny Jackett has insisted the winger is ‘ready to go’ after completing a late deadline-day move to Pompey last week.

Solomon-Otabor was signed within the final hour of the January transfer window, moving on loan from Birmingham for the remainder of the season. 

His late switch meant the 23-year-old wasn’t involved in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Doncaster at Fratton Park.

And he was ineligible to feature in the 2-0 FA Cup fourth-round replay defeat at QPR on Tuesday.

Solomon-Otabor has trained with the Blues all week, though, and is expected to be included in Jackett’s match-day squad to face Plymouth today (3pm).

The Pompey boss was impressed with the London-born talent while he was on loan at Blackpool last term. 

Jackett feels the wide man has all the attributes to make an impact in Pompey’s League One promotion push.

He said: ‘Viv is ready to go and he is looking forward to it.

‘He has a fair amount of experience, is what I’d call a good age, and classifies a typical Portsmouth signing.

‘I like his pace. He has pace and the ability to go past people – that is a big thing.

‘He is a player who is also capable of getting a shot in.

‘In terms of our wingers and how we play, he does fit the bill if we need to rest or if Ronan Curtis and Jamal Lowe are not around.

‘We’re pleased Viv has joined us. He is our type of winger in terms of playing in a 4-3-3 formation.

‘He has the pace, power and goalscoring ability. He had a good season at Blackpool last season, I was very impressed with him

‘It was a frustrating time at Birmingham this season. They have some good players along the front line.

‘We’re pleased to have added him into our squad and see if we can work with him from now until the end of the season.’

Solomon-Otabor’s 11th-hour capture brought Pompey’s wide options back up to the four they had in the first half of the season. 

Andre Green and David Wheeler were recalled to parent clubs Aston Villa and QPR midway through January.

Barnsley loanee Lloyd Isgrove and Solomon-Otabor have since replaced the departed duo.

Along with first-choice wingers Curtis and Lowe, Jackett is pleased to have enough players who can operate on the flanks. 

He added: ‘We are back now to the four wingers we had.

‘We had Wheeler and Green but now have Solomon-Otabor and Isgrove.

‘They keep our cover and competition to what we consider to be as a vital position.’