Why Danny Cowley believes patience could yet reap dividends for Portsmouth as they vie with Sunderland, Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday & Co for players

But the Blues boss highlighted the transfer market is still to fully click into gear for sides at the top of League One.

And that state of flux is contributing to Cowley needing to hold his nerve over bringing in new faces this summer.

Cowley is carrying out a complete rebuild of the Pompey squad with 16 players departing - and eight new faces through the door so far.

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A host of new additions are still required, however, with clear gaps in areas of the 42-year-old’s squad.

Despite the season starting next weekend and there being plenty of work to do, Cowley has repeatedly made it clear he is not willing to compromise over the quality of recruit he’s looking for.

That stance, in reality, means Pompey are vying for a small pool of free agents at present with a number of clubs with superior spending power.

But there is still likely to be an opportunity to bring in loans before the window closes on August 31.

That process is being slowed by top-flight squads giving some of their players extra time off after competing in the European Championships.

That’s creating a knock-on effect where youngsters usually on the squad’s periphery will be needed for pre-season training and warm-up games.

Cowley sees that situation filtering down and having the effect of making the market stagnant in the Championship.

The head coach can see a path to that changing however next month, but is aware patience is required:

He said: ‘The Championship is not moving. That’s the reality.

‘Well, actually the Premier League has not moved yet which can happen when there’s an international competition in the summer.

‘They are still on holiday so there’s a lot of young players in first-team squads right now who could eventually become available.

‘We know the transfer window is a chain, and at the moment that chain is not moving as quickly as we would like.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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