Danny Cowley reveals Portsmouth squad size plans as he plots crucial summer recruitment drive

The Blues recently had just 14 senior players to choose from, with injuries and suspensions impacting significantly on team selection.

Cowley’s preference for operating with a manageable squad focused on ability rather than numbers has undoubtedly consequences over the course of the campaign.

Meanwhile, their five loanees, who have largely been regulars, are scheduled to return to parent clubs in the summer, ensuring a busy summer of recruitment lies ahead.

Cowley admits he wants to expand Pompey’s squad to 22 senior players next season.

But he fears increasing it any further could dilute quality.

The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘At the moment, we are a 20-man squad and five of those players are loans.

‘We certainly wouldn't want there to be the same amount of changes as last summer, we want to have continuity.

‘We’d like to have a bigger squad if possible, but we also know that we need enough quality in that squad to be able to compete at the right end of the division.

‘In terms of the make up of the squad, if you are just talking about senior players then we would like 22 – supported by maybe four younger players.

‘That would be our ideal, but sometimes we don’t live in an ideal.

‘If we’d had 26 players this year, then we would have spread ourselves too thin and wouldn’t have been able to compete.

‘You have to make decisions. You can have lots of players, but if they are not good enough to play for Pompey then you’ll be ineffective.

‘We’ve had to try to take some risk and go with a smaller squad size.

‘I think we’ve got really good players in our group, particularly this side of January. I’m much happier with the balance and profile of players, and also the culture of the group.

‘We are much more compatible now, we are focused, we are humble – and we are all hugely ambitious about trying to get better.’

Jayden Reid, Kieron Freeman and Reeco Hackett have been ruled out for the season.

Although Shaun Williams is expected to soon boost numbers and is pencilled in to play again this term.

For Cowley, however, crucially there isn’t enough youngsters emerging through the Academy to bolster his playing options.

He added: ‘We haven’t got a conveyor belt of young talent coming through the Academy at the moment.

‘That is something we are really working hard on because we wholeheartedly believe in young players.

‘We know if we’re going to have success as a football club then we’ll have to develop our own – and history tells us there’s a lot of good players in Portsmouth.

‘We are both working very closely with Greg Miller to keep trying to improve that area of the football club.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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