How Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has assisted Danny Cowley on Portsmouth-linked Accrington midfielder Matt Butcher

Butcher, who hails from Denmead, will be at Fratton Park on Saturday with the Accrington side he continues to shine in.

The 24-year-old has made 77 appearances and scored six times since signing from Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee in August 2020.

Butcher, who is a Blues fan and attended Cowplain School, came through the Cherries ranks and was handed his first-team debut by Howe in August 2015.

Pompey have previously been linked with a move for the left-footed midfielder, who is out of contract in the summer.

And while Cowley declined to reveal whether he has interest in Butcher, clearly research has been carried out.

The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘Matt is a good player, a Portsmouth boy, and played at Bournemouth.

‘When I spoke to Eddie about him, he thought a lot of Matt. He said he was so good in training that he liked to keep him around.

‘Although he believed that maybe hampered his progress because he never let him have that opportunity to go out on loan earlier.

‘Still, I know Eddie thought a lot of Matt.

‘Eddie and I share agents, so when we were both between jobs we spent some time together. I can’t say he was picking my brain, I was picking his brain!

‘Matt has done consistently well now over a two-year period at Accrington. He has good size, has good physicality, and is a really good left-footed player.

‘Am I interested? He’s an Accrington Stanley player, I’m not going to upset John Coleman on the eve of our game against them, that’s for sure.’

Butcher played for Denmead and Wimbledon Park Tigers before joining Bournemouth at the age of 13 following a successful trial.

He went on to make two appearances, while spent loan time at Woking, Gosport, Yeovil and St Johnstone.

Cowley added: ‘There's a group of young players at Bournemouth and whenever you do recruitment and are watching them, should you then get the chance to speak to the person who has worked most closely with them (Howe), you take it.

‘You just check your understanding of the player and whether your assessment is accurate.

‘Matt has done a good job at Accrington, there are many good players there.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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