'We can't get caught up in the emotion': Portsmouth boss on why League One leaders won't be changing transfer policy

Danny Cowley’s men have taken 14 points from a possible 18 to establish themselves as surprise early pacesetters in the promotion race.

However, the Blues’ head coach has ruled out letting that encouraging form influence a change of approach to the final hours of the window.

Cowley remains fixed on adding another attacking player and potentially a left-footed defender to his existing squad before tomorrow night’s 11pm deadline.

And he is adamant that sitting at the top of League One won’t persuade them to push the boat out for even more signings on top.

He told The News: ‘I don’t think we get too caught up as a club emotionally in that.

‘We’ve got quite a lot of clarity over how we work and what we can and can’t do, I don’t believe we’re going to get drawn into the emotions of football results.

‘That shouldn’t be the case either, otherwise you can get caught up in the emotion and then make unintelligent decisions, which wouldn’t be good for the long-term of the club.

‘We know what we want to do. Whether we can or not, time will tell.

‘You see a lot of clubs that probably historically have acted quite emotionally and suffered as a consequence of that. For us, it’s always to have a clear plan and a clear strategy.

‘As soon as you let emotion take control and change and deviate away from the strength, you are working impulsively and sometimes that doesn't allow you to work intelligently.

‘Our strategy has been really clear. We’ve wanted to try to bring young players into the club, now we have 12 who are aged 21 and under in the squad, which I think is fantastic for the future.

‘We know we must support those young players with some senior experienced players and good characters, which we have now brought to the club.

‘We have traded really well too. If we don’t feel we can extend contracts for whatever reason and get the right offer, we can use that money to sell and reinvest.

‘That’s obviously what we did with Marcus Harness, which allowed us to have a lot more flexibility in the market.’

In addition to scouring the transfer market before the deadline, Haji Mnoga is expected to depart on loan.

Fellow promising talent Dan Gifford, Toby Steward, Alfie Bridgman, Harry Jewitt-White and Liam Vincent have already been fixed up.

Cowley added: ‘We have five young ones out on loan, which is what they need for the next step in their development.

‘Haji will be the sixth, all being well, and we have another group of young ones supporting the team, such as Zak Swanson and Jay Mingi.

‘These are young players who need game time and experience as well, there’s no hiding place, but they are very close with the first-team.

‘If they aren’t going to get game time with us in the immediate future, then we’d look to loan them out for their development as well.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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