Boss reveals reasons for slow Portsmouth recruitment as fans demand additions now amid form slump

John Mousinho had detailed the factors slowing the recruitment pace in the January window.

The Pompey boss has pinpointed international competition as a significant issue in holding up deals - but is adamant his club will be rewarded for holding their transfer nerve.

Fans are calling for the Blues to accelerate their recruitment amid a slump in form, which sees them with just one in six League One fixtures.

The dynamic of the winter window often lends itself to deals being closer to the deadline - which is 11pm on February 1 this year. That is exacerbated this month with Premier League and Championship clubs losing players to the African Cup of Nations and Asian Cup.

Mousinho said: ‘There’s a couple of clubs who’ve moved quickly on a few players, apart from there hasn’t been a lot of movement.

‘The African Cup of Nations and Asian Cup definitely plays a part, because all of a sudden players have gone away and all of sudden clubs are far more hesitant to let players go. When clubs have more than one player involved in those competitions, there will be a knock-on effect.

‘Premier League clubs will have two or three players out in those competitions, so it gives 21 players a chance to step up in league and cup games. That ultimately then means they are not available for loan.

‘I think it holds everything up a bit and there’s just not a huge amount of movement, there. There probably never is early on in January, unless you’re a squad who knows exactly where you are and wants to make massive improvements by bringing in five or six players in.

‘We’re not in that place at the moment and feel we have a decent enough squad. Anything we do add, we want to be of high quality.’

Two rounds of the FA Cup being played in January gives clubs from the top two tiers games where they often use the fringe or under-21 players Pompey are monitoring. That is another factor to consider, but Mousinho feels the Blues keeping their powder dry will present openings they otherwise would’t get.

He added: ‘You’ve got the FA Cup and the teams who progress in that may want to keep hold of players, because they have an extra fixture in there. You see the same happen sometimes in the EFL Trophy with under-21 sides.

‘There are a lot that changes, a huge amount that changes. The one thing you can guarantee between now and the end of January, there will be a load that changes.

‘There will probably be five or six players we would definitely be interested in, that we didn’t think were going to be available. They will pop up on email or text over the next couple of weeks.

‘That’s the sort of thing we have to be clever with, reactive and we don’t miss out on. It’s really important. You go through the window so far and we haven’t missed out on the any of the players we’ve spoken about.

‘We’re in a good position and keeping plenty of irons in the fire and making enquiries where we can, so we’re in a good position to take players as and when they become available.’