'I'm ready': Portsmouth man's battle cry after Blues opt against transfer replacements

The Blues are adamant they are currently not seeking to strengthen the left-back area, leaving Connor Ogilvie and Sparkes to once again fight it out.

The former Exeter man capitalised on his rival’s injury-hit season to make 22 starts in League One last term, weighing in with a number of assists during some eye-catching attacking displays from full-back.

By the 23-year-old’s own admission, however, defensively there were issues - but definitely not at Peterborough.

Called in as a last-minute replacement for the ill Paddy Lane in the March clash, Sparkes responded with a man-of-the-match showing against the threat of dangerous right-winger Kwame Poku.

With a 1-0 triumph, it was the day when the Fratton faithful finally believed promotion was theirs - while for the left-back demonstrated the huge strides in his defensive game.

Sparkes told The News: ‘Defending is probably the one thing every week I have worked on, especially with Zesh (Rehman), who is very good with me. Even when I’ve not been playing, that has been important.

‘The first thing the gaffer looks at is can he trust me defensively and put me in, especially in the Championship with the standard going up even more.

‘You are playing against better players, it should be interesting. I have worked hard over the summer to get myself ready for it and I’m looking forward to it.

‘I came into that Peterborough game at quite late notice. Paddy was ill and I didn’t find out until just before we left for the coach. I guess not having much time to think about it helped me a bit.

‘That was probably my best defensive performance of the season. I didn’t really get involved too much in attacking, but you’ve got players like Kas (Yengi), who can score a goal and win you a game.

‘I had performances last year, where probably Blackpool away stands out, when I was pretty poor defensively. But it was important to try to learn from that set-back and push on.

‘I had meetings after the game with Zesh and the gaffer about how I could improve and take that into a match - then I had a good winger like Poku up against me.

‘There’s a lot of talk, you get picked up quite easily when you have a bad game and don’t defend well enough, but Peterborough was nice to show people that I can do it, it’s something I am capable of. It’s just about being more consistent.’

Sparkes produced a stunning strike from distance to register a magnificent goal with the last kick of the game in Tuesday night’s 3-1 friendly win at Gosport.

And he’s relishing the challenges ahead in the Championship.

He added: ‘I had a good run of starts from September and then, around Christmas, I had a few bad performances. Bristol Rovers away stands out, where I was probably a little tired.

‘I hadn’t played that many games on the bounce for a long time and it caught up with me a little around that point. So when I came out it was a good time to reflect and reset.

‘When Connor came back, obviously he played, but when I was needed it was important I was ready to step up.

‘It was obviously good to get through that. I will be better for it and ready for next time.’