Why Danny Cowley believes he will improve Portsmouth's horror January transfer record as they vie with Sunderland, Oxford United, Plymouth, Charlton & Co for signings

Danny Cowley outlined a strong January transfer record which offers Pompey fans cause for optimism about what can be achieved in the transfer window.
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And the Blues boss forwarded a belief recruitment is easier when the winter trading comes around, compared to the summer.

Many Pompey fans are fearful about the player dealing which lies ahead next month, with their club possessing a poor record at this time of year over recent seasons.

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Pompey have topped the table at Christmas in two of the past three seasons, only to fall away over the second half of the campaign.

The January recruitment has been forwarded as a key factor for that, with few signings made being deemed as successes.

Cowley feels his record at this time of year more than stands up to inspection, however.

He said: ‘I’ve always liked January and we’ve had really good success in that window in the past.

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‘At Huddersfield we brought in Emile Smith Rowe and Harry Toffolo, which made us much better.

Pompey boss Danny Cowley.Pompey boss Danny Cowley.
Pompey boss Danny Cowley.

‘At Lincoln we were top and the owner said “do what you need to do to stay top”.

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‘So we made a load of safe signings and added them to what was a really good team anyway.

‘The chairman asked what could stop us getting promoted? We said we needed this, this and this - and that’s what we got.

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‘The Lincoln supporters were asking why we signed them, but if we’d got an injury they would’ve played.

‘We’d won the league by March, so it was pretty good.

‘The previous year we signed players like Lee Frecklington and Jordan Roberts and we got to the Checkatrade Trophy final.

‘So we’ve always done alright in January.

‘I’ve always felt it’s a bit easier in January personally, because you know what your team is and you have a clear idea of what you are, how you win, why you don’t win and you know what you need.’

Cowley has stated he would like to add four players to his squad next month, and reported positive talks with owner Michael Eisner this week.

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With pressure on managers and clubs at this time of year, the head coach has experience of using what’s happening elsewhere to his advantage in January.

He added: ‘Things can change quite quickly, one minute a club says these players are available and then they say they’re not the next day.

‘But I actually think you can target the clubs who can be quite emotional and are quite results driven.

‘Sometimes off the back of a bad result or performance they can get emotional, and that is sometimes something you can exploit.’

Designed with Pompey fans in mind

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