Portsmouth boss reveals how left-back battle could shape up moving forward

Lee Brown won the battle to start in front of Cameron Pring in the league curtain-raiser against Shrewsbury.

Pring made a strong case for inclusion with an impressive debut against Colchester in the EFL Trophy in his Blues debut.

But it was Brown who was given the nod, and rewarded Jackett with one of his side’s best performances in a disappointing opening-day 0-0 draw.

The man who signed a new two-year deal in the summer got forward well down the left, as Pompey started positively before losing their way - and also went close with a 45-yard free-kick in the second half as his side rallied.

Pring brings plenty of attacking intent to the table however, as he showed on loan at Walsall in League Two last season.

There is the prospect of continuing to mix and match at left-back, with two games coming up at Brighton and then Rochdale in a busy start to the season.

Jackett will weigh that up, but is pleased with options at left-back.

He said: ‘Lee brings a lot of experience into our back four, with Cameron Pring just coming into the club.

‘I felt one game each was the right thing this week.

‘Cam got off to a good start and both left-backs have done well on Tuesday and Saturday.

‘We need everyone to go through the season and there will be a lot of games.

‘It looks a positive thing to call on them both, because they’ve both done well.

‘Cameron has just come in, I played both full-backs this week and they played well.

‘It bodes well for our future and the games coming up.

‘Obviously having just one specialist left-back isn’t quite right and we’ve had good games from both of them.’Jackett also had a decision to make over which central defender to go with between Jack Whatmough and Paul Downing to partner Sean Raggett.

Whatmough got the nod and repaid that call with a man-of-the-match display on his 100th Pompey performance.

Once again, Downing found there was no place for him on the bench as he once again found himself in a familiar position of being out in the Fratton cold.

Jackett added: ‘Paul’s trained well and if we need him, he’ll be there.

‘I went for for the options of Pring and Bolton as the cover for defenders.

‘James can definitely fill in at centre-back, and there’s options with Lee Brown inside and Tom back as well.

‘Those were the options I went with in terms of cover, and ultimately you want the forward options and today we needed the midfield options.

‘He has to keep working hard. It’s been a frustrating time for him, 100 per cent, yes.

‘But he’s a very good professional and he’ll keep pushing.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Thank you for reading this story. The News has launched a new subscription offer which gives you unlimited access to all of our Pompey coverage.

You can subscribe here to get the latest updates from Fratton Park, transfer news and expert analysis from our team of Pompey writers.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism on your behalf for our city.