Portsmouth transfer news: Danny Cowley makes January departures admission that will come as no surprise to players

And he promised there’ll be no surprise departures next month as he prepares to fine tune his squad again for the second half of the season.

Pompey are expected to be active in January as they attempt to salvage something from a 2022-23 League One campaign that started so promisingly.

Cowley has already said that boosting the pace and power within his attacking ranks is a priority – as is someone who can enhance the Blues’ threat from set-piece deliveries.

Meanwhile, The News understands the Pompey boss will also make a new player who can operate on the right of a back four one of his primary objectives next month.

Yet, in order to do everything on his to-do list, Cowley must oversee a number of Fratton Park exits.

It’s something he had to navigate his way through this time last year, with John Marquis, Ellis Harrison, Paul Downing and Lee Brown all allowed to leave PO4.

And heading into January 2023, there has already been talk of more departures, with the likes of Kieron Freeman attracting interest from Mansfield, Clark Robertson reportedly interesting Derby and Ronan Curtis’ long-term future remaining up in the air.

There’s also doubts about the current loans of Joe Pigott, Josh Koroma and Owen Dale.

Despite the uncertainty on this side of the Fratton Park gates, though, Cowley admitted all his players know exactly where they stand with him.

And unless they’ve been told otherwise, he’s not planning on shifting anyone out at this stage without them knowing.

Cowley told The News: ‘I always like to have open and honest conversations (with my players).

‘I never like surprises, I don’t like surprises myself and I try not to give anyone else surprises.

‘So if you manage players’ performances on a regular and consistent basis, like we do, then you have those honest conversations and they always have clarity.’

Cowley also confirmed there will be no panic buying from him, despite his side’s current League One form which now stands at one win in 12 third-tier outings.

‘We try to watch them (targets) over 10 games, really,’ he said.

‘It won’t always be 10 live viewings but we always like to watch them live as much as we can.

‘With the use of various analysis tools, and the different recruitment tools, we’re able to pretty much watch football across the world in a click of a button, so this is good.’