Pompey's day has been dominated by departures - but Paul Cook is focused on the tricky job of trying to get a result at Accrington Stanley on Saturday.

Loanee Caolan Lavery has gone back to Sheffield Wednesday while James Dunne has moved to Cambridge - with no news yet on whether anyone, particularly a replacement for Lavery, will be coming in soon.

It still leaves Cook with a strong squad and it's one he takes to a former club, Accrington, as the League Two promotion bid continues at the weekend.

He spoke to the official website of how highly he rates the Blues' opponents: 'They’re possibly the best team in the league — and that’s not me trying to build the game up.

'All the other sides up there have the option of bringing in new players with a bit of finance, but John Coleman doesn’t have that. The team they’ve put out on the pitch this season is as strong as any other in this division.

'I thought they would be one of the sides competing for automatic promotion, although all the games they’ve had called off could hinder that. I believe that you’re guaranteed a good game on Saturday because there will be two sides who like to play football.

'But whatever other sides do is relevant — our league position at the end of the season will be where we deserve to be. We’ve got a lot of lads playing well at the moment, so we’ll just keep going and working hard.'

Pompey will be without Danny Hollands for several weeks - he suffered a fractured fibula at Ipswich. Ben Close appears favourite to replace him in midfield.

Follow @Pompey_Fans

Click here to sign up for an account and reserve your username! You can then post on the Forum and add your comments to articles

Photo: Action Images

Portsmouth Polls