Portsmouth boss lays down detailed targets to beat Sunderland, Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic and Rotherham United to promotion

The Blues head coach has set an 87-point target to ensure his side reach the second tier at the fifth time of asking next term.

In a detailed assessment, Cowley also believes around 26 wins will be required and in the region of 10 draws, as he broke down how the points total is likely to be reached.

On top of that, the 42-year-old told his players they will have to break the 80-goal barrier and concede less than a goal a game, if they are to be celebrating next May.

Pompey’s players returned for pre-season training on Monday at the club’s newly-acquired Roko base, as plans for the new campaign got underway.

Before they took to the training pitch, Cowley and his backroom team gave a presentation to their players which boiled down on the numbers as well as the qualities required, to get the club to the level they are aiming for.

Cowley said: ‘We looked on Monday at the project and what we’re trying to achieve.

‘We looked at the teams who were successful in our division over the last 12 seasons.

‘We looked at the points tally and the number of wins you need.

‘We need to get somewhere near to 87 points to get automatic promotion.

‘We know that requires about 26 wins and around 10 draws.

‘We know we need to score 80 goals and we know we need to concede less than one a game.’

Last term saw Pompey come up on all the numbers associated with delivering promotion, as they missed out on a play-off place on the final day and finished a disappointing eighth in League One.

There was also a damning statistic that the Blues failed to win when they conceded first in league action.

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The Cowleys’ maiden game in charge against Ipswich saw that happen for the first time in nearly two years.

It was a feat repeated at AFC Wimbledon on the penultimate weekend of the season, but Cowley knows those qualities have to be shown much more regularly moving forward.

He added: ‘If we are going to try to win 26 of 46 football matches, you have to win in all different ways.

‘If you go back to last season, we only scored 61 goals and conceded more than a goal a game.

‘We also didn’t win many games after going behind.

‘That was a real issue for us.

‘We have to be able to win games in all different ways.

‘It’s a given you are going to win games when you play well.

‘Can you win games when you maybe don’t play so well? Can you win games when you go behind? Can you win games late on?

‘All of these things are really important if you’re going to find 26 victories, which is what you’ve needed to get in the last 12 years to get automatic promotion.’

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