Portsmouth opponents Cheltenham clear-out six players in a day to boost battle against relegation

Struggling Cheltenham have initiated an early January window clear-out with six players leaving ahead of Pompey’s visit.

Boss Darrell Clarke has opted to return all but one of their seven loanees to parent clubs as he strives to overhaul a squad which has put them in deep relegation trouble.

Luciano D'Auria-Henry (Fulham), Oli Hammond (Nottingham Forest), Josh Williams (Birmingham), Jovan Malcolm (West Brom) and Cameron Peupion (Brighton) all departed on the same day this week.

Injured defender Owen Bevan has also returned to Bournemouth, although may come back for a second loan dependent on how treatment progresses.

Hammond was the only one of the departures involved in the New Year’s Day 1-0 defeat at Northampton, albeit as an unused substitute.

Meanwhile, of the six, just Bevan and Malcolm have started more than three League One matches this season, reflecting the impact of the summer recruits.

That leaves Nathan Butler-Oyedeji as their sole loanee at present, with the Arsenal youngster making 11 appearances so far, all from the bench.

Clarke told Cheltenham’s official website: ‘We have now sent a lot of players back from their loans and we wish them all the best.

‘This has allowed us to free up funds that we are going to need to bring in two or three quality players into the team.’

The Robins have somewhat rallied following Clarke’s appointment at the end of September, although remain second from bottom - and three points adrift of safety.

He replaced Wade Elliott with Cheltenham at the time winless, goalless and with one point following nine league matches. That draw arrived at Fratton Park in a goalless draw.

Since then they have collected five league victories, including two from their last four fixtures, to provide hope of staging a remarkable recovery.

Pompey head to Whaddon Road buoyed by their New Year’s Day 2-1 success over Stevenage, with Paddy Lane and Colby Bishop the scorers.