US Portsmouth sign striker Blu Boam from Wessex League rivals Baffins Milton Rovers

Blu Boam, left, has signed for US Portsmouth. Picture: Chris Moorhouse

Blu Boam has been drafted in from Baffins Milton Rovers and could make his debut in Tuesday’s Wessex League Cup tie at home to divisional rivals Bournemouth Poppies.

‘I spoke to Shaun (Wilkinson, Baffins boss) and he’s been great,’ said Grice.

‘He said Blu would probably be in his starting XI but due to his work commitments he can’t commit to 100 per cent of their sessions.

‘I used to play with Blu at Roko, about 10 years ago - I know what he can do and the lads know what he can do.

‘He’s just a good overall footballer. We’ve signed him to play up top but he could probably do a job at right back.

‘I’ve got no concerns about our defence, we have looked very solid defensively. It’s just our decision making at the other end of the pitch and our ball retention.’

Boam hasn’t played for Baffins this season – his last appearance for the club was in last May’s Portsmouth Senior Cup final against Moneyfields at Fratton Park.

Grice will use the Wessex Cup tie to give minutes to fringe players.

Muzammil Al-Barwani, Wilron Joseph and George Root - who came on during Saturday’s 2-0 league win at Amesbury - will probably start while Owen Scammell and Sam Ndlovu come back into the squad as well.

‘Our main objective is to stay up in the league and cup runs can be a distraction,’ said Grice. ‘I’ll use this cup and other ones to keep fringe players as fresh as I can.’

USP are currently above both Moneyfields and AFC Portchester in the embryonic Premier table after back-to-back wins.

Former Pompey Academy skipper Obi Saidy put them ahead at Amesbury and Joe Johnson - who grabbed the only goal in the previous week’s beating of Portland - finished off a one-two with Brodie Spencer after the restart.

‘We did our homework on Amesbury,’ said Grice. ‘We said to the lads they could be a bit slow at the back and if we could play around them we could get goals.

‘Both our goals came from moving the ball around quickly.

‘It was a really good performance again. We were in control for pretty much the whole game.’