Portsmouth boss reveals shift in recruitment policy with ex-Bournemouth, QPR and Hull man set to arrive

Kenny Jackett revealed his recruitment drive is now tuned into players who can make an immediate impact on Pompey’s promotion chase.
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And that process will see the Blues turn to experience in the shape of left-back Charlie Daniels to aid the bid to reach the Championship.

Daniels is set to sign after leaving Shrewsbury with the 34-year-old bringing Premier League nous to Jackett’s options.

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Signing a player of the former Bournemouth man’s experience is a departure for the Pompey boss, who has almost exclusively recruited younger players with resale value in his time at Fratton Park.

Jackett is unconcerned about bringing in a players in the veteran category, however, with the remit to get out of League One now.

He said: ‘If it’s possible (to add experience) that would be great.

‘We want good quality players in and around the club and in training who can raise the bar.

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‘They are hard to get because we do feel we have some good players.

Pompey are close to landing Charlie Daniels to boost their left-back options. Picture: Marc Atkins/Getty ImagesPompey are close to landing Charlie Daniels to boost their left-back options. Picture: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Pompey are close to landing Charlie Daniels to boost their left-back options. Picture: Marc Atkins/Getty Images

‘But our target is to improve the squad. It’s not always easy.

‘Sometimes you go for potential, but it’s not always possible in terms of what people can do over a longer period of time.

‘You do need that, but similarly with the situation we’re in with so many games in a short space of time we want to be as strong as possible, with as much quality as possible and people who can affect it as and when they play.

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‘You have to cover both, definitely (squad planning for now and moving forward).

‘Some flexibility in the summer is going to be important for every club.

‘It’s going to be hard to, not necessarily work out, but how the landscape looks for many businesses, the football industry and which division we’re going to be in.

‘They are questions for the summer, but at the moment our focus is on this season and trying to maximise the squad we have and take advantage of the position we’re in.’

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Pompey currently have a squad of senior 20 players with space for two faces within the 22-man limit they’re working to under salary cap and squad restrictions. Harvey White and Haji Mnoga don’t count to that total.

Further space could be created if a goalkeeper such as Duncan Turnbull wasn’t registered by Jackett, for example.

The Pompey boss has to decide how to manage his options in the coming days to create space for new arrivals.

He added: ‘I’ve stated we will sign a specialist left-back, because we only have one.

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‘Then after that we have two more spaces for players 21 and over.

‘I won’t fill them for the sake of it but within the next 10 days I do feel there will be opportunities to sign players.

‘We do want to capitalise on that if we can.

‘In an ideal world we’d have done all of our business by the end of December.

‘It doesn’t necessarily work like that and also like every club we want to get the best possible players we can.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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