What Portsmouth’s summer transfer activity could look like as Blues look set for seventh successive League One campaign

That is the verdict from The News’ chief sports writer Neil Allen, who believes John Mousinho has a good core to assemble his squad around next season.

The Blues suffered a 1-0 defeat to league leaders Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, leaving the side 12 points adrift of the play-offs places.

Large sections of the Fratton faithful now believe the gap is too big to bridge in the final 11 games of the campaign - which would condemn Pompey to a seventh-successive term in League One.

But with another rebuild potentially on the cards in the upcoming transfer window, Allen believes the Blues are in a stronger position than previous summers.

‘There’s a core,’ he said in our latest episode of Pompey Talk.

‘You look at permanent players, there’s (Joe) Rafferty and (Zak) Swanson at right-back, (Sean) Raggett and (Ryley) Towler at centre-back, (Denver) Hume at left-back, (Joe) Morrell, (Tom) Lowery and (Marlon) Pack in midfield, Colby Bishop up front and there’s Paddy Lane and Reeco Hackett.

‘That’s a good core to have and there’s something to work with. Apart from Hackett, they are all first-team regulars. A lot is still needed though because the team is just not good enough.

‘Nobody can convince me Pompey can get in the play-off’s because they’re not - they're not even close.

‘Of course people are unhappy, next year is going to be the seventh season in this division.

‘You can’t match the budgets of Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich who’ve come down from the Championship, Barnsley have a bigger budget when they came down from the Championship and they keep the players who come down with them.

‘Barry Bannan will be on a huge wage at Sheffield Wednesday but you can’t match that so you’ve got to find another way.

‘Plymouth have done very well this season with a budget which was smaller than Pompey’s at the start of the season.

‘These are the players that Pompey have got, this was a squad that was built by Danny Cowley so it is what it is.

‘We’re in that groundhog day where we get to the summer and there’s another overhaul, another rebuild. But at least this time there is a really good core in the squad to build on for next season.’