‘ONE OF THE BEST AT OUR LEVEL’
Michael Jacobs has been pinpointed as one of the finest attacking talents in League One.
And the mercurial Pompey ace has been tipped to have a big campaign at Fratton Park, after committing his future to the club for another 12 months.
Pompey didn’t take up the option they had on the 31-year-old, but negotiated a new incentive-based deal to extend his two-year stay.
Jacobs came to the fore over the second half of the last campaign with some excellent showings.
That led to Danny Cowley admitting he got it wrong over the former Derby County and Wolves man after infrequent use over the first six months of the season.
Now the challenge is for Jacobs to maintain that form over the course of a full term.
Pompey skipper Clark Robertson has no doubt the winger’s talent is virtually unsurpassed in League One.
He said: ‘There’s not many better at this level than Crackers.
‘At what he does at this level he’s one of the very best, no doubt.
‘As a defender, if I’m playing the ball through the lines he finds the space so well.
‘He’s a really intelligent player and you just know when you give him the ball he’s going to look after it. He will hold on to it and allow us defenders to get up the pitch.
‘He is going to be a big player for us next season, I really do.
‘Over the second half of the season when he was involved quite a lot you could see the quality he does have.’
Jacobs has spoken about having ‘unfinished business’ at Pompey, as he weighed up his future. After a stop-start time at Fratton Park amid several injuries, that was a motivating factor for staying put for another campaign.
Robertson said: ‘I’m sure he’s going to be motivated. He has that fire in the belly, but if you don’t have that you shouldn’t be at this club.
‘Everyone who comes back for pre-season would have had a good seven or eight weeks off.
‘We will all be coming back raring to go.
‘When you have a good pre-season together, it’s a big help to starting well and achieving the ambitions we have here. This is a big season coming up for us - and we know that.’