Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley issues transfer warning as he prepares to land deals

The Blues boss has underlined his belief the temporary additions at Fratton Park have to supplement the existing group of players moving forward.

Pompey are busy continuing their recruitment plans ahead of the summer transfer window opening on June 10.

It looks like being another hectic period of activity, as Cowley reshapes his squad for his second full season at the Fratton helm.

The 43-year-old already had 10 players contracted ahead of taking up four options on squad members, as the Blues retained list was confirmed last Saturday.

Talks are continuing with the likes of Reeco Hackett, Michael Jacobs, Sean Raggett and Aiden O’Brien as their deals came to a close.

That will hopefully give Cowley a reasonable base on which to work from, following on from last season when a constant flow of triallists came through Pompey’s Roko training base.

Cowley then moved to fill his five loan slots with Gavin Bazunu, George Hirst, Mahlon Romeo, Gassan Ahadme and Miguel Azeez present for the first half of the campaign.

Tyler Walker and Hayden Carter then replaced Azeez and Ahadme, with many of those temporary faces going on to be key squad figures.

Cowley, of course, would like to keep up the loan success stories, but pointed out they should only be in addition to a strong array of talent already in the building.

He said: ‘Loans can’t be the core - and hopefully that won’t be the case again.

‘We want our loans to be the icing and cherry on the cake.

‘If we want sustained success we are going to have to have a core who are your own players.

‘They can then give us a platform to then recruit from.’