Portsmouth boss issues investment warning as training facilities hinder progress

And the Blues boss insisted investment is desperately needed to improve the surfaces at the club’s Roko training base, if the club is to put the right facilities in place.

Cowley explained preparations for this weekend’s trip to Crewe have been impacted off the back of the pitches not handling the recent rainfall.

And this is now becoming a significant concern for the 43-year-old, after back-to-back victories for his team.

Cowley said: ‘We’ve had our challenges with our weather.

‘Portsmouth is normally blue sky and sunshine, but this week it’s been a bit different and we’ve had a lot of rain - and that definitely affects the training pitches.

‘The pitches have been really challenging this week.

‘They have been really soft and the players have found it difficult to keep their footing.

‘As a result we haven’t been able to train with the intensity that we would like.

‘We’ve had to reduce the volume this week which we never really like to do, but needs must.

‘We’ve had our challenges in terms of the pitches for sure. We desperately need to look at this.

‘I feel for the owners because of the work on the stadium and having just bought Roko.

‘It’s a really expensive time for them coming off Covid.

‘But that will need to be a priority pretty soon to put the necessary money in the training pitches, because for us to be able to perform at our best and maximise the players we have available, the training pitches are pretty important.’

Cowley feels the standard of training pitches is not only important to Pompey’s first team, but those players coming through the club’s academy.

But when it comes to the approach the former Lincoln boss is trying to implement, it’s far from ideal when the intensity of matchday preparations are being compromised.

Cowley added: ‘Your training pitches are everything to you in terms of player development and developing the young players at the club and team.

‘We want to play with intensity, energy and a high ball speed.

‘If you want to play like that, you need to train like that. You need the quality of pitches to get the intensity and ball speed in training.

‘Also you need that to get the players’ confidence.

‘The confidence comes from being able to rehearse your skills consistently well.

‘At times when the training pitches aren’t playing as well as you’d like that affects things.

‘Long term, the great thing is we own Roko.

‘So if we want to invest money into the pitches, they are ours to invest in and not someone else’s.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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