The Portsmouth goal machine available on deadline day with ex-Bournemouth, Bristol City and Ipswich Town man up for grabs

And, no doubt, that fact wouldn't have been lost on many Pompey fans as their team struggle for attacking fluency.

Brett Pitman was told he could leave Bristol Rovers by boss Joey Barton, after spending much on the periphery of his squad, although a deal never materialised.

Pitman joined the Gas in the summer on a free transfer after being released from Swindon following a year at the County Ground.

The 34-year-old was initially a key part of Barton’s plan after a successful pre-season, but has since slipped down the pecking order at the Memorial Stadium after only netting four times this season.

He joined on an initial one-year deal with an option of a further 12 months at Rovers, but it appears he won’t be playing too much with the ex-Bournemouth man falling out of favour with Barton.

Ahead of the window closing, the Gas boss stated the striker would be allowed to leave before Monday’s deadline.

Speaking to Bristol Live, Barton said: ‘We’re going to let Brett explore the market.

‘We had a chat with him during the week and I think, the way we want to be and what we want to do, it hasn’t quite worked out for him.

‘It’s going to be difficult to give him opportunities now based on the players we’ve got at our disposal.

‘If you’ve had a career like Brett has had, you want to go out playing. You don’t want to go out being 19th man and not playing on a matchday.

‘It’s different if you’re 20 and you’re developing, but not when you’re 33, so I wanted to give him that opportunity.

‘I spoke to him after the Scunthorpe game about exploring the opportunity to see what is out there for him. So, he’s doing that now with his agent.’

Danny Cowley was in the market for an experienced striker as he tried to piece together his team before the close of play.

As a result, Pompey recruited Aiden O'Brien on a permanent deal until the end of the season.

The Blues have failed to have a regular goalscorer in their ranks since Pitman’s standout 2017-18 season, where he scored 25 goals in 41 appearances.

In doing so, the signing from Ipswich was the first man to break the 20-goal barrier since Svetoslav Todorov bagged 26 strikes in the 2002-03 campaign.

In total, the 34-year-old found the back of the net 41 times in 98 outings during his three year stay at Fratton Park before joining Swindon in 2020.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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