Portsmouth defender Jason Pearce has admitted that he thought he might have been on his way out of Pompey prior to the transfer window closing last night. The Blues, who had a £1 million offer accepted for his team-mates Joel Ward and Stephen Henderson before they turned down the move after failing to agree personal terms, were amongst three Championship clubs to have bids for the 24-year-old centre-half rebuffed.
Pearce said: "I have to admit, I thought there could have been a chance I could have been going. My head has been all over the place over the past couple of days. I didn't want to go but I thought I may be forced out because of the club's problems.
"Luckily though, the club wanted to keep me. People already know I wanted to stay and be part of, hopefully, a good future at the club.
"The manager made it very clear he didn't want to let me go and I was keen to stay. I knew it might not have come down to my decision with the club needing funds. Thankfully, I'm still here though, which is just what I wanted."
Speaking after last night’s 5-1 victory over West Ham, Blues boss Paul Jewell wasn’t ruling out looking at the situation again when Football League clubs are able to sign players on loan in a week's time. In the case of the Pompey trio presumably on the basis of initial loans with the deals being made permanent in the summer.
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