Danny Cowley on why Portsmouth departures now central to Blues ambition for more player recruitment

Although the Blues’ head coach has stopped short of declaring a one out, one in policy at Fratton Park.

Sunday’s unveiling of Owen Dale takes the pre-season tally to 11 players – with the last eight arriving in a whirlwind 25 days.

Inevitably the swelling of his first-team squad must lead to exits, with out-of-favour Kieron Freeman having already turned down a switch to a fellow League One club.

The future of Ryan Tunnicliffe remains uncertain considering the numbers – and quality – in the central-midfield area at present.

While Ronan Curtis has been the subject of ongoing transfer interest from abroad as well as at home.

Cowley would like to add another attacking member, with Barnet’s Ephron Mason-Clarke on his radar.

But there will have to be Pompey departures before the transfer window closes on September 1.

Cowley told The News: ‘Signing Owen definitely helps, we now have seven players in those attacking areas in terms of the wingers and forwards.

‘In an ideal world, we would like to be at eight, but time will tell whether that’s possible. Probably one or two will have to go out for that to be a reality.

‘I think we try to be more agile and more flexible than saying it’s one out, one in, but we also want to get the right balance of the group.

‘For us, we will wait and see how the window evolves.

‘We’re in a much better place than three weeks ago, the group is growing, there is much more competition for places, which is so healthy for a successful team.

‘We know exactly where we want to be, we are not going to shout it from the rooftops, we have an understanding of what we’d like to do, but, ultimately, things will happen naturally, the window will evolve.

‘I haven’t got a crystal ball, so we will see what the next 22 days of the transfer window brings.

‘We are getting closer to where we want to be. We’re in a much better place today than where we were three weeks ago, that’s for sure.’

Dale and Tom Lowery have joined fellow newcomers Marlon Pack, Zak Swanson, Joe Rafferty, Josh Griffiths, Joe Pigott, Josh Oluwayemi, Colby Bishop, Michael Morrison, Dane Scarlett and Lowery.

That includes four loan arrangements, with, realistically, one spot left.

In the meantime, Cowley must ensure his new-look playing squad swiftly gels and he seeks to build on successive League One draws this season.

He added: ‘We’d love to have six weeks of pre-season now, of course, but don’t have that luxury.

‘So what we must do is try to work really, really hard and really intelligently, particularly when the games come thick and fast, so we can promote the game understanding and develop the partnerships and relationships.

‘We are definitely moving in the right direction and spoke about this in our meeting this morning with the staff.

‘Certainly, with time, we can get to where we want to be.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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