Portsmouth manager Danny Cowley has suggested that he is evaluating the current situation with a host of players who see their existing deals expire at the end of the campaign.

At the moment, excluding loan players, Portsmouth have around 12 players within their squad who are entering the final stages of their current deals at Fratton Park.

Those players include the likes of John Marquis, Marcus Harness, Sean Raggett, Lee Brown, Shaun Williams, Jayden Reid, Michael Jacobs, Louis Thompson, Paul Downing, Reeco Hackett, Jay Mingi and Ellis Harrison.

That suggests that Portsmouth could be set to have to perform something of a major rebuild in the next two transfer windows if they are to lose a large chunk of their squad when their existing deals come to an end in the summer.

Some of those players will have a point to prove now during the rest of the campaign after Portsmouth’s challenging start to the season has left them in mid-table at the moment.

Speaking to The News, Cowley suggested that it will be up to a lot of the players who are heading out of contract in the summer to prove they deserve new deals with their performances on the field.

He said: “It’s definitely something we evaluate.

“We’re always trying to manage that side of things and be aware of where we’re at in terms of the length of players’ contracts and where we are in terms of bringing in players in January.

“We’re always looking at how players who are out of contract are looking to progress and perform and whether they take the opportunities or not.

“I always believe that it’s the players that pick the team by the way they train and play.

“It’s exactly the same in terms of extending contracts – it’s the players that control that through their performances.”

The verdict

This is a very difficult situation for Portsmouth because they will want some certainty over the long-term futures of some of those key players who are heading into their final years with the club.

However, they also need to try and make sure that they have the wage budget required to re-shape the squad next summer and in January with some of those 12 players likely to be let go at the end of the campaign.

Cowley is right that there are some players within the mix that need to prove themselves first to him before they can be guaranteed the offer of a new contract. However, there are also others in the list that might feel they want a fresh start and a chance to maybe progress to a higher level.

The form that Portsmouth are able to show during the rest of the season will go a long way to determining which of the 12 out of contract players they decide to offer new deals to.