It looks set to be an exciting end to the season for Portsmouth.

Since the appointment of Danny Cowley as manager at Fratton Park, Pompey have looked rejuvenated on the pitch, putting themselves right in contention for a play-off spot, while they may still feel they have a slim outside chance of automatic promotion.

That is something the club will doubtless be looking to convert into something concrete, as they look to bring their nine year exile from the Championship to what they will feel is a long-awaited end this summer.

Whilst we wait and see how they do, we’ve been having a think back over the years to some of the best players to have featured at Fratton Park that do not hail from these shores.

To do that, we've come up with a list of the ten best players from outside of the UK and Ireland to have for Pompey, and here, are the ten we’ve gone for – take a look and see who might make your list…

We start this list with Niko Kranjcar, who perhaps not surprisingly, made the move to Fratton Park while Harry Redknapp was in charge of the club.

While that connection between the two has become something of a punchline over the years, it is easy to forget that the Croatian, who joined Portsmouth Hajduk Split in his homeland, was still a more than useful player for Pompey.

The winger's crossing ability was a considerable asset for Pompey in attack, and he was also part of the squad who lifted the FA Cup in 2008, playing a regular role in that cup run, but while his ability is undoubted, the nature of the latter end to his time at the club may leave a bit of a sour taste in the mouth.

Distin joined Portsmouth on a free transfer from Manchester City following his departure from The Etihad at the end of the 2006/07, and he would go on to be a rather useful signing for Pompey.

Over the next two years, Distin became a near ever present figure in the Portsmouth defence, making just short of 100 appearances in all competitions for the club, winning the FA Cup, and taking over the captain's armband following the departure of Sol Campbell from Fratton Park.

The French centre back would eventually leave Portsmouth early in the 2009/10 campaign, when Everton paid a reported £5.3million for his services, earning Pompey a tidy profit on a player they didn't even pay a fee to sign.

Hreidarsson joined Portsmouth on free transfer following Charlton's relegation from the Premier League in the summer of 2007, and it would certainly prove to be Pompey's gain.

The Icelandic left-back wasted no time in making himself a regular fixture in the backline at Fratton Park, helping the club to that FA Cup win in 2007, and the final of the same competition in 2010.

Injury would prevent him from featuring that second final, an issue that blighted his latter years at Portsmouth, but Hreidarsson never the less made over 100 appearances in total for the club, showing his affection for Pompey when he stuck around following relegation from the Premier League, and when he offered to play for the club for nothing during their financial troubles in 2012.

Boateng joined Portsmouth from Tottenham in the summer of 2009, and is one of those players who you could certainly describe as being something of an enigma.

Unquestionably talented, Boateng never quite reached his full potential, be that at Fratton Park or anywhere else in a career that saw him play for a number of big name clubs across Europe, where, like at Pompey, he did manage to show flashes of brilliance.

Indeed, you wonder how different things might have been for Boateng in terms of his Portsmouth career, had the club not been relegated at the end of the German born, Ghana international's debut season with the club amid those financial problems, which perhaps prevented them from seeing him at his very best.

Todorov joined Portsmouth in the summer of 2002, and endured a frustrating debut campaign with the club, making just three appearances, scoring one goal and receiving one red card in that time.

The following campaign however, saw the Bulgarian well and truly come into his own, netting 26 goals in 45 league games to propel Pompey to promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.

After that, Todorov spent the majority of the next two seasons absent with a major knee problem, although he returned for the 2005/06 season to score some vital goals to ensure Pompey avoided relegation from back to the Championship, with those contributions to the club's Premier League cause earning him a place on this list.

While Diarra's time with Portsmouth was brief, it was certainly both successful and impressive.

Making the move to Fratton Park from Arsenal for a reported £5.5million in January 2008, Diarra helped Portsmouth to the FA Cup title that season, with his performances for Pompey also helping him to earn a place in France's squad for the European Championships that same summer.

Perhaps the biggest indicator of just how good Diarra was for Portsmouth, comes with the fact that Real Madrid paid a reported £20million to sign the midfielder less than a year after he made the move to Fratton Park in December 2008, earning the south-coast club a sizeable and useful profit on their business from the start of that year.

Portsmouth reportedly paid £1.85million to sign Stefanovic from Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem following their promotion to the Premier League in the summer of 2003.

That would prove to be an inspired piece of business, with the Serbian quickly establishing himself as an regular feature in Pompey's defence as they adapted well to life back in the Premier League, with Stefanovic named the club's player of the year for the 2004/05 campaign, being handed the captain's armband for the following season.

Despite some controversy about his attitude under the management of Alain Perrin, Stefanovic was certainly a useful player on the whole for Pompey, making well over 100 league appearances for the club and helping to keep them in the Premier League for several seasons.

Hislop joined Portsmouth from West Ham in the summer of 2002, and he would quickly make an impact at Fratton Park.

The Trinidad and Tobago international quickly established himself as the club's number one between the posts, and his performances earned him a place in the Division One team of the year for the 2002/03 campaign, as Pompey claimed promotion to the Premier League.

The following couple of seasons saw Hislop continue to feature on a regular basis, with the goalkeeper helping Pompey adapt to life in English football's top-tier, before leaving to re-join West Ham in 2005, having made exactly 100 appearances in all competitions for Portsmouth.

Kanu only signed a one-year contract with Portsmouth when he joined the club following his release from West Brom at the end of the 2005/06 season.

However, the Nigerian striker would go on to make a big impact for Portsmouth, staying at Fratton Park for six years, during which time he showed plenty of the ability that made him an icon during his time with Arsenal, not least during the 2008 FA Cup final, when he scored the winning goal and was named man of the match.

In total, Kanu made 167 appearances in all competitions for Portsmouth, and will no doubt have further endeared himself to fans of the club when he wrote off £3million worth of wages owed to him in the wake of his departure in 2012 amid Pompey's financial problems.

While he may only have spent one season with Portsmouth, there was never going to be anyone other than Robert Prosinecki who topped this list of Pompey's best foreign players.

The Croatian's single year at Fratton Park came during the 2001/02 season, when his performances in the heart of the Portsmouth midfield practically saved the club from relegation to the third-tier of English football single-handedly.

That spell with Portsmouth saw Prosinecki score nine goals in 33 league appearances, including a hat-trick against Barnsley that supporters of the club are unlikely to ever forget, with many debating to this day whether the midfielder is in fact Pompey's best ever player, making his place at the top of this list something of a no-brainer.