Portsmouth Football Club

• Nickname:Pompey
• Founded:1898
• Manager:Guy Whittingham

• Ground:Fratton Park
• Capacity:19179

Cotterill stymied at Pompey

05 Jul 2010 - 16:47:42

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Portsmouth manager Steve Cotterill believes he has a tough task on his hands as he prepares to rebuild the ailing south coast club.

Following their on and off-field problems last term, Pompey endured Premier League relegation heartache and now Cotterill will not be able to bring any fresh faces into Fratton Park until July 17 at the earliest.

With a Company Voluntary Arrangement still in place, their pre-season plans are being hampered ahead of their Championship opener at Coventry City on August 7.

Speaking to reporters, Cotterill said: "I would normally be further ahead with things. I'd have more players and the team sorted out in my head.

"That's difficult to do at the moment, because there are a lot of balls up in the air and we're waiting for a few to drop.

"It's a bit awkward at the moment, but we'll get there and things will drop into place just in time. It's nothing new. What I could have done with perhaps was being in the job two or three weeks earlier.

"Then, perhaps, I might not have missed out on certain people. There are certain markets we're looking at. We're looking at the free transfer market at the moment. Then, in August and the latter part of the month especially, the loan market kicks in."