Portsmouth boss Michael Appleton is desperate to keep hold of central defender Jason Pearce so he can build a side around him in the years to come. Pearce, 24, is one of three Pompey players the Blues are hoping to have signed by the time the transfer window closes at 11pm this evening along with keeper Stephen Henderson and versatile midfielder or defender Joel Ward.
Appleton told the Portsmouth News: "Pearcey is doing fantastically well and long may that continue. The biggest asset he’s got is that he is a left-sided centre-half and there aren’t many out there. Obviously that attracts a lot of people.
"He’s an aggressive boy, he has an infectious attitude about him. Him and Joel Ward are like the Chuckle Brothers when they are together.”
The Pompey boss says the former Bournemouth man can only improve: "The thing about Pearcey is he’s got a lot of ability and will get better and better. He enjoys a tackle, he enjoys defending, he’s a solid, solid, solid defender — and reliable.
"The lad takes as much pleasure heading the ball clear and getting to the front post and making sure he stops a front man scoring as he did netting that goal on Saturday, I can guarantee.
"I think he can be better at playing the ball forward more instead of playing rush stuff and playing to his full-back.
"And while Pearcey is a man marker who likes to mark, sometimes he gets a little bit too tight and gets rolled and pinned.
"But his big strength is that he’s a leader, he wants to win and I want to build the club around him. I just hope I can continue to work with him over the coming months.”
Town boss Paul Jewell admits that he doesn’t think he’ll get all his Pompey targets — "it will be difficult to get all three” — with negotiations likely to go to the wire.
It’s already too late for players signing permanently to play against West Ham this evening but loan signings can be involved as long as the deal is done three hours before kick-off.
Meanwhile, one-time Town target Billy Sharp has completed his move from Doncaster to Southampton for a fee of £1.8 million and former Blues loanee Danny Collins proposed switch from Stoke to the Saints reportedly could be back on after claims that it had fallen through yesterday.
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