Portsmouth boss speaks on relationship with Brett Pitman as he prepares for Swindon return

The Blues boss is plotting how to keep the arch goal poacher under wraps as he returns to PO4 tomorrow night leading the line for struggling Swindon Town.

The man who bagged 42 strikes in 99 Pompey appearances is undoubtedly one of the most prolific marksmen to wear royal blue in recent times.

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In fact, no player scored more goals for Pompey in the 2010s, while only Yakubu can say he’s produced a better return in the 21st century.

Pitman finished as the club’s top scorer in League One with 25 goals in the 2017-18 season after arriving from Ipswich, but was exiled last season and forced to train with Bournemouth under-21s.

Now he’s back and Jackett has only praise for his achievements, with the Pompey boss insisting there’s nothing personal between him and his former captain.

He said: ‘For Brett, he played 99 games for Portsmouth and got 42 goals. That’s a great return in nearly 100 games.

‘He’s obviously made the move to Swindon and they haven’t hit the heights of last year’s promotion.

‘The side does seem to have changed a lot, but Brett and all of the team will be fighting hard to get the points to get out of the relegation zone.

‘You always want to do well against your old club and it’s thrown up in football every week somewhere.

‘It’s our job to keep him quiet, like it would be any opponent.

‘We welcome Brett back as an ex player and, as I say, 99 games and 42 goals is a terrific return and he was a very good servant in those games.

‘There are no issues and I think all you have to do is look at his record to see it tells the story of a successful spell.’

There was plenty of speculation about Pitman’s lack of involvement in his final season at Pompey, with the former Bournemouth man not playing for the club in 2020.

False rumours circulated of a new deal being triggered for playing 100 games, but Jackett did publicly speak of a ‘selfish’ attitude in the Blues dressing room being wiped out as the striker found himself in the cold.

Jackett has stated now searching for the right promotion formula had much to do with Pitman’s lack of involvement for much of last season.

He added: ‘We were always trying to find the promotion equation.

‘That’s where we are now and where we’ve been for recent seasons.

‘We’ve been a play-off team and we’ve been looking for that. That’s what we’ve always been looking for.

‘His record is there to see at Portsmouth, though, and congratulations to him on that.’

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