Whittingham: New boy can give Pompey balance

Guy Whittingham is confident Dan Potts' presence will give his Pompey side the balance they require to turn around results.
Dan Potts in actionDan Potts in action
Dan Potts in action

The 19-year-old yesterday trained with the Blues after completing a one-month loan switch from West Ham.

He will go straight into the side facing Scunthorpe on Saturday, slotting into the problem position of left-back.

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Being left-footed, Whittingham is confident Potts can create a different dimension down that flank, particularly in attack.

The last five matches have seen Shaun Cooper, Danny East and Joe Devera all operate in the left-back role.

Yet the trio are naturally right-footed.

With Dan Butler on loan at Aldershot until January, the other option is the left-footed Marcos Painter.

But ongoing injury concerns have restricted him to the bench in the last three matches.

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Now Potts is on the scene and Whittingham is adamant the England under-20 player can add something to his team.

He said: ‘Dan is a young player doing very well with West Ham and they think highly of him.

‘He came down on Tuesday night and was with Jed Wallace watching the Academy game as they know each other from England.

‘Dan has a very good left foot, is energetic, gets forward and can go past his winger.

‘He can also play left centre-back.

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‘He will also give balance to the team, which we feel is important.

‘We’ve had Joe, Danny and Shaun there down the left but being right-footers they want to take the ball inside first of all.

‘Whether it’s Ricky Holmes or Andy Barcham in front of them, they both want to get the ball quickly and close to the touchline but that is not happening.

‘It’s all about the angle of the pass and a natural left-footer like Dan will give us that and there’s every chance he will play on Saturday.’

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Potts’ arrival throws Painter’s future into question, with the 27-year-old’s contract up in January.

The former Birmingham defender has not featured in any of the past seven matches, although he was ruled out through injury for many of them.

In total he has played six times since joining in August and has impressed on occasions, including a 3-0 victory over Morecambe on his debut,

Whittingham added: ‘Nothing against Marcos, he is still part of the squad for sure.

‘He has come in here after missing a pre-season and got injured a few times, which is unfortunate.

‘We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again, which is best.’