Portsmouth boss pinpoints position which needs urgent strengthening in January transfer window

That’s the message from John Mousinho, with the Blues eager to bolster the right flank and the number 10 positions before the February 3 deadline.

Paddy Lane’s knee injury sustained at Blackburn, plus Sammy Silvera and Elias Sorensen’s departures, have left Pompey short in wide areas both in terms of numbers and quality.

Pompey have recruited centre-half Rob Atkinson and central midfielder Isaac Hayden to Fratton Park so far during the window.

Yet while Mousinho is adamant he doesn’t want another striker, he’s eager to improve attacking options elsewhere in his struggling squad.

Josh Murphy, Callum Lang and Matt Ritchie are currently selection considerations, while Harvey Blair is now back following a knee issue - but Pompey’s head coach wants additions.

Mousinho told The News: Without nailing down any specific positions, the priority is probably going to be attacking areas, we’re going to have some flexibility in that.

‘Particularly if we now have Paddy injured, we’ll assess that and see where we are off the back of that. It’s about adding firepower, as in creative attacking players.

‘Murph has played the majority of the season and been brilliant out on the left, while we’ve had Matt (Ritchie) who has come in and done really, really well. He’s probably unlucky not to be in the side, but we’ve gone for a slightly different look in the last couple of games.

‘At Blackburn, we wanted to have that full width and pace with Callum (Lang) out wide. We didn’t get the result, but, on another day where we get the penalty, we come away from that game with his width and pace working well.

‘Considering the options - along with Paddy’s injury - it’s definitely an area we need to look at.

‘We aren’t being too prescriptive on the profile of player, we just want to bring in players who can impact the side, impact the team, and are good players.’

Certainly the Blues urgently need cover and competition for Murphy and Lang, who have established themselves as key Championship performers.

While Mousinho is keen on players who can provide flexibility across all three of the attacking positions behind the centre-forward.

He added: ‘We want players that are interchangeable across those attacking positions a lot of the time. Matt and Paddy can both play wide or as a 10, Callum’s played wide and as a 10 as well.

‘Sammy (Silvera) also did it, although we would probably be a bit more hesitant about doing that with Murph, we like to keep him out wide.’