Latest: Portsmouth boss reveals striker picture as transfer chase continues

Blues boss John Mousinho believes a third out-and-out front man is required to sustain a promotion push next season.

Pompey have been incredibly busy in the transfer market since the summer window opened last week - bringing in six players to date.

Among those additions has been Christian Saydee, with the powerful front man brought in from Bournemouth as competition for Colby Bishop.

It’s Bishop who’s firmly at the front of the striking pecking order, however, after a campaign in which his valuation skyrocketed after 24 goals following his £500,000 arrival from Accrington.

The concern for Pomoey is the worst case scenario of their key front men picking up an injury which rules him out for a significant period.

Moushino privately has reservations about Saydee then taking on the weight of expectation of leading the line on his own in that scenario.

The Blues boss feels the 21-year-old could share the load with a third front man, however, while having a third option gives versatility to how can play or change their approach in games.

Mousinho has spoken about a ‘wildcard’ option up front for scenario - and still believes that is the way forward this summer.

He said: ‘We’re really pleased we’ve got cover for Colby.

‘But we probably think that maybe the best scenario is to have three centre forwards for that spot.

‘That’s for a number of reasons. The top sides that have competed at the top end of League One for the last few years have maybe had that. They’ve had a couple of different options.

‘We did have that last year, to be honest, but we did have two loans.

‘That’s great, but with centre forwards sometimes and the way we play, we can utilise two of them on the pitch at the same time - even if we don’t play with a flat two up top.

‘A lot of the players these days have more flexibility - whether they can play wide or behind the striker. They are always good options to have.’