DETAILED: How Portsmouth plan to shake up scouting network in bid to unearth talent

New sporting director Richard Hughes is set to overhaul the approach to identifying talent, following his arrival at Fratton Park.

And a significant part of that approach will be to spread the net when it comes to the way the Blues watch games and players moving forward.

Pompey boss Danny Cowley explained the club currently have a limited scouting network, which needs reviewing.

That will fall within the audit Hughes has been carrying out on the football operation since starting in his role last month.

At the moment, Pompey’s coaching staff are largely providing the foundation for having eyes on games and players around the country, getting to as many games as the fixture list will allow.

Moving forward, Hughes plans to break the country up into different regions and have an appointed scout for each area.

That will allow them to build a base of knowledge on what is occurring in that specific section and put that expertise to good use.

Cowley said: ‘We haven’t got a very big scouting network.

‘I know Richard Hughes is trying to get to a position where we have scouts attributed to each area.

‘So we’d divide the country into six and then have a scout in each area, which makes total sense.’

With the Accrington game postponed last weekend, the free weekend offered the chance for Pompey’s coaching staff to get to a number of games from the Championship level down into the non-league game.

It’s an opportunity which wouldn’t have been presented had the clash gone ahead, however, with a need for more structure evident.

Cowley explained his own programme for watching games is dependent on the fixture list, but the work ethic is there from everyone around the football operation.

He added: ‘In the short term because we’re a small team the staff have a responsibility to get out and watch games. Thankfully, they are more than willing to do that.

‘In a three-game week (for Pompey) I will get to one, in a two-game week I will always try to get to two.

‘The staff are brilliant at putting the work in, though.’