Danny Cowley addresses reported Portsmouth interest in Sunderland defender Denver Hume

The Blues are in the market for an attacking left-back able to operate as a wing-back, with a signing hoped this month.

The 25-year-old Hume fits the bill, with 84 appearances and three goals for the Black Cats since graduating from their Academy system.

Ironically, Pompey travel to the Stadium of Light this weekend, seeking their first League One victory of 2022.

However, ahead of the fixture, Cowley would not be drawn on the issue of Hume.

He told The News: ‘I think we are being linked with a lot of players from a lot of clubs.

‘I certainly won’t be talking about a player that plays in a team that we are coming up against on Saturday.

‘I don’t think that would be fair on Lee Johnson or Sunderland as a football club.

‘I am aware of him as a player, I have just spent 48 hours watching Sunderland, so he’s a player that we know.’

Cowley wants two more recruits before the end of the January transfer window, with a left wing-back one of them.

Presently Lee Brown and Reeco Hackett are battling it out for the role, with the head coach having reintroduced a back three at the end of November.

With Hackett sidelined by a foot injury for AFC Wimbledon, Brown returned to the team for the goalless Plough Lane draw.

However, Hackett is now pushing for a first-team return ahead of Saturday’s trek to Sunderland for league action.

The left-footed winger has started eight of the Blues’ last 10 matches in all competitions in the wing-back role after being converted this term.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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