Why there's confidence Portsmouth could consolidate in the Championship

The Blues’ assistant boss believes retaining prized assets would be key should promotion be yielded when the season recommences.

Kenny Jackett’s men are firmly in the race to make a return to the second tier for the first time since 2012.

They sit fourth in the table, but are only two points outside the automatic promotion places with nine games remaining.

Should Pompey achieve their target, they would make what's regarded by many as the biggest leap between divisions in English football.

Average weekly wage bills multiply at extraordinary rates, with numerous clubs often receiving millions of pounds from Premier League parachute payments.

The teams who were promoted from League One last term – Luton, Barnsley and Charlton – are all currently in the relegation zone, underlining how difficult the challenge will be.

But Gallen believes the trio are fighting to avoid the drop because they lost key players during the summer.

He pinpointed that wasn’t the case when Jackett and himself guided Millwall back to the second tier in 2010.

In the Lions’ return to the Championship after a four-year hiatus, they finished ninth in the table.

So if Pompey can go up and retain regulars such as Ronan Curtis and Christian Burgess, Gallen reckons they’d have a strong chance of surviving.

He said: ‘Every step up is big and they all might be getting a bit bigger as you go.

‘Look at Norwich, they won the Championship last season and are bottom of the Premier League.

‘You look at the league table in the Championship now and all three teams that went up last season are in the bottom three as it stands – Charlton, Luton and Barnsley.

‘Unfortunately, all three lost some really good players in the summer.

‘Luton lost their two full-backs – James Justin and Jack Stacey – who were excellent, Charlton lost three excellent players in Krystian Bielik, Patrick Bauer and Joe Aribo, and Barnsley lost keeper Adam Davies and centre-halves Ethan Pinnock and Liam Lindsay.

‘If we get promoted and can keep our team together and add to it then I think that we can compete.

‘The players would have to be ready and it’d be very similar to when we went up to the Championship with Millwall.

‘We didn’t change it too much and we were a little bit worried about it at the time.

‘However, we totally hit the ground running and we had a great season to finish ninth in the Championship against all odds.

‘It can be done. The finances weren't huge but it can be done.’

Should Pompey be in the Championship next term, they’ll be heading into most games as underdogs.

But Gallen believes that will make the Fratton faithful crank up the volume even more than usual – and it can prove a big advantage.

The assistant manager added: ‘It's possible to stay up, although it's tough and the jump is big.

‘But when you’ve done it once, you feel like you can do it again.

‘I think we could if it happens and I hope it does.

‘Our crowd would come right into play because they'll realise we will be the underdogs in the division above, so Fratton Park would be a tough place to come.

‘Once you’re at the top of League One, it gives you a bottom four or bottom-five side in the Championship. The levels would be similar.’