'The owners are backing us': Portsmouth chief reveals the financial news the Fratton faithful want to hear

Next year marks a seventh successive campaign at this level, while the Blues haven’t been involved in the play-offs for a third straight season.

However, according to Pompey’s sporting director, chairman Michael Eisner is ready to bolster their latest promotion bid with improved financial muscle.

As in January, Hughes has once again been given the green light to buy players, rather than relying solely on free agents and loan deals.

And with the transfer window scheduled to reopen on June 10, he’s relishing overseeing a critical recruitment drive.

Hughes told The News: ‘We’ve not had a mid-table budget, it’s a really competitive budget.

‘I can’t talk about what has gone before, but, from my experience and dealings with the owners, when we asked them to buy players and put money into the budget, they were more than forthcoming.

‘The best example I can give is my first transfer window at the club (January) with the three occasions we went to them to try to buy players.

‘That was Paddy Lane, Ryley Towler and another very publicly linked (Jevani Brown). The owners backed us in everything we were trying to do.

‘Next season’s budget is still to be decided, but it’s looking like it is going to be higher.

‘The owners want to see progress on the pitch, they want to see us being successful as an organisation, and are happy to back that. I think a budget increase will probably be the case.

‘I can understand where people come from when they talk about the budget, but, from my experience in January, they were happy to back us making some good decisions which thankfully paid out well.

‘We are not just working on free agents and loans, we have the opportunity to buy players should the right ones become available for us.

‘It has been well-documented that we want to move away from a reliance on loans and, ultimately, that probably does come at an increased cost of potentially having to buy some players.

‘The owners have been brilliant, they trust what we are trying to do and what we are attempting to build.

‘Ultimately, we will be judged on that – you can’t ask for anything more.’

Towler has proven an instant Pompey hit, while Lane would find his feet following a low-key start to life on the south coast.

And Hughes believes they epitomise what the recruitment team – and the owners – are attempting to achieve at Fratton Park.

He added: ‘Our job as scouting and recruitment staff and John (Mousinho) as part of the coaching staff is to show them the value of what we’re trying to do.

‘Will we get everything right? No, because scouting isn’t an exact science, but we can show them there’s a thought process – as there was behind Paddy and Ryley.

‘The times when I’ve asked them to buy players, they were more than happy to back our judgement and back the football club.’