Portsmouth favourite reveals stance over Fratton future after exit talk for Bristol City signing
Ryley Towler has cooled talk of an exit as he set his sights on making his mark on Pompey’s Championship campaign.
And the 22-year-old revealed there’s been no discussions over a potential departure in the remaining weeks of the transfer window.
Speculation over the Bristol City academy product’s future on the south coast has continued to mount throughout the summer, having been touted to leave on loan in a bid to gain more game time.
It follows Towler making just six league outings in Pompey’s League One title-winning campaign, three of which arrived as a substitute.
Despite starting the Blues’ 2023-24 curtain raiser against Bristol Rovers he fell down the pecking order, with Regan Poole, Conor Shaughnessy, Sean Raggett and Tom McIntyre the preferred central defensive options.
However, with injuries ripping through John Mousinho’s ranks, the centre-back has since started Pompey’s opening two games of the season against Leeds and Millwall.
This has fed confidence into Towler, who is adamant he wants to stay at Fratton Park for the remainder of the campaign.
He told The News: ‘No (there hasn’t been any talk about going out on loan), I am fully focused here and I want to be here and be a part of it. I want to be playing here and for sure my full focus is staying at Pompey.
‘It’s exciting, I obviously back myself to play in the Championship and I think all the boys do too. We’ve got a good enough team, we’ve got a great team. We’ve just got to keep building and I think it’ll be an exciting season ahead.
‘Of course I want to stay here, I love it here. All the boys are great and I want to stay.’
Towler started alongside Shaughnessy at the heart of Pompey’s defence for their season opener against Leeds on Saturday afternoon.
And with Poole and McIntyre continuing their returns from injury, the defender has come out fighting and is adamant he is ready to battle for his place when the duo complete their comebacks.
He added: ‘I had a very good pre-season and all I wanted to do was start against Leeds and when I found out, it was a great feeling.
‘It was a positive start and something to build on for myself. It’s also given us loads of confidence as a team going into Saturday.
‘It’s what it’s all about. You’ve always got to be ready, you might get chucked in here or there but you’ve always got to make sure to put yourself in the best place for the next game. I always make sure I am ready for every game and there’s not much better place to start than at Leeds.’