Latest: Rich Hughes provides Portsmouth transfer update as recruitment drive powers ahead

Pompey have been handed a head start in pursuit of summer targets, yet Rich Hughes has warned supporters to expect a quiet May.

The moment promotion was secured against Barnsley, the Blues’ recruitment team tore up their contingency plan to focus on strengthening for the Championship.

Arriving two matches before the end of the League One campaign, inevitably it enabled Pompey to drive ahead with their transfer plans while rivals remained in limbo.

The English football season officially finishes on Sunday, May 26, with the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

But with clubs still in action in the Premier League, the FA Cup and divisional play-off fixtures in the meantime, Hughes admits there’s a natural lull in the player market.

Although the sporting director insists the Blues remain busy as they plot for the opening of the summer window on Friday, June 14.

He told The News: ‘We had drawn up two lists depending on the outcome of this season, so you have to deviate and switch.

‘The nice scenario we find ourselves in now is we’ve had that sense of clarity since Barnsley in terms of knowing what list we were going to be operating from - and we’ve been working really hard on that.

‘Recruitment started straight away and myself and John have dipped straight into it, having conversations with various people and seeing what we can achieve.

‘The only caveat to that is it’s incredibly early. There are still play-off games to go, the Premier League has a final round of games, football still goes on until the end of May.

‘We can still be proactive, we can be busy, but the likelihood is there won’t be a lot happening in May, there very rarely is.

‘The conversation, though, will be around strengthening as many positions as we possibly can in various different circumstances, but we are really happy with the group.

‘Obviously we’re hoping to retain Connor (Ogilvie) and Marlon (Pack), then we’re factoring around that. I couldn’t give you an exact number we need, but there aren't many positions where we wouldn’t entertain strengthening the group at the minute.’

The summer transfer window is scheduled to last from June 14 until Friday, August 30, with a 11pm closure.

Last summer proved productive for the Blues, who signed five players in the opening three days - and 14 overall.

Hughes added: ‘We’ll probably tap into a slightly different loan market. Where we had to take unproven talent like Alex Robertson and Abu Kamara last year, that might change a little.

‘We will also continue to dip into the foreign market, where we’ve had a bit of success in the past and feel we have good understanding.

‘We will start to evolve that as we evolve as a Championship club, in terms of understanding different markets and figuring that out. But the consistency of the approach won’t change hugely.’