Kenny Jackett has revealed he was happy to give Jamal Lowe time off to deal with speculation over a possible move to Wigan.

But the wideman is - as things stand - due to be back on Pompey duty at Stevenage on Saturday.

Wigan are understood to be closing in on a deal to take Lowe to the north-west and Jackett said Pompey had a duty to help the player make the right decision over his future.

Jackett told The News: ‘I am pleased he is back in training and hopefully with a clear head and ready to work. Giving him the time off was my decision, I thought it was the right thing for him. Having listened to the player and considered everything, I thought it was the right decision.

‘Everybody needs a break from situations sometimes, you need to go away and think about things and, after summing up everything, I thought it was the right thing to do. There has been a lot of speculation over Jamal over a lot of time, sometimes it’s not easy to process that, you need time off to speak to your parents, etc, etc. It’s not always an easy situation when coming in every day.

‘There's a lot of opinions, but he has to do the right thing for himself. Similarly, as ever, we are working towards a good season ourselves and combining the two — both personal and the club — is sometimes a balancing act.

‘The player can refocus — as long as the club have a good relationship with the player and are honest with each other. It’s very important. Jamal is very well thought of inside the club by everybody, we want to try to help him, support him and give him every opportunity to make what we think is the right decision. You need to do that, it’s his life and his future.’

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