John Mousinho: Portsmouth shortlisting January transfer targets

Portsmouth are down to a shortlist of players they are targeting when the January transfer window opens, says head coach John Mousinho.

Pompey are only one point clear of the Championship relegation zone as they prepare for Saturday’s match at Derby (15:00 GMT) with Mousinho looking to strengthen his squad next month.

“We are at the shortlist stage. We’ve cut down the long list to four or five players in every position,” he told BBC Radio Solent.

“We’re still looking at players in every position because we don’t know how quickly things are going to change from week-to-week or day-to-day. We’ve got an idea of what we want, we just have to be fluid with it.”

Portsmouth signed eight players in last season’s January window as they pulled clear of trouble to retain their Championship status, but Mousinho believes patience will be the key to land the additions they want next month.

“It’s difficult for everyone because the players that are going to be available, clubs wait until after the third round of the FA Cup to see what picture changes at their club,” he added.

“Until they’ve got a couple of incomings they don’t let players go which is probably sensible.

“The most important thing is everybody wants signings through the door really early but we’ve done a lot of our business late in January over the three windows I’ve been here so it’s about patience.”

Meanwhile Mousinho confirmed defender Regan Poole will be fit for Saturday’s game at Pride Park after missing the past two matches with an ankle injury but fellow defender Josh Knight will be out for at least another fortnight with bruising to his back.