Portsmouth captain delivers encouraging squad assessment as Blues gear up for late-window business
Pompey have recruited nine players in the summer transfer window so far
Marlon Pack is confident Pompey’s increased expenditure will help them progress in the Championship this season.
The skipper has also given an encouraging assessment of where he currently sees John Mousinho’s squad.
It’s been a busy summer at Fratton Park, with nine new faces arriving through the doors, while four players have gone the other way.
There’s also been a visible increase in spending as owners Tornante loosen the pursuit strings, with the likes of Marko Milovanovic, Abu Kamara and Rocco Shein all join for multi-million pound fees.
As the market heads towards its climax next Tuesday, a frenetic finale to the transfer window is expected as John Mousinho looks to recruit at least three new faces to bolster his ranks further.
Pompey captain’s assessment of new-look side
That’s bound to increase competition for places among the first-team and potentially spell the end of some players’ Fratton Park careers.
However, Pack has welcomed the outlay to date and the reband undertaken over the summer in order to get the Blues competing at a different level.
He told The News: ‘We’ve made some very good signings and I actually think we’ve now got a really good core in the group.
‘It’s quite rare at a football club that we actually welcome better players because we want to improve. And the only way to do that - of course we have to improve within - but it’s also bringing players in externally to take us to the next level.
‘We are desperate for it as a group, I know the gaffer is, Rich (Hughes) probably is, the owners are to keep improving each year.
‘We’ve got a week left of the window and hopefully we can still add a bit more quality and come the end of the window we’ll assess where we are at and see where that can take us this season.’
Pompey’s plans for new Championship season
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Pompey have avoided relegation in both of their campaigns back in the Championship, achieving 16th and 18th finishes.
Pack believes the next challenge for the Blues is to establish themselves as a mid-table side and, more importantly, avoid another relegation scrap.
‘The challenge for us, regardless of the incomings and the new signings, is we want to progress each season,’ he added.
‘The first two seasons, we’ve done really well to secure stability and now how do we progress? That is the challenge for us.
‘We have to come to places like Lincoln City and win and, of course, new players coming in are going to help us.
‘We don’t want to have the season we had previously but the challenge in the Championship is that it's getting tougher every year.
‘Teams that come down spend enormous amounts and I think that’s great, we’ve got to thrive off that.
‘Probably for us now is how can we not be the Portsmouth underdog mentality, how can we thrive in this division? I haven't got the answer yet but we’re going to be working as hard as we can to get there.’