PITMAN ‘NOT IN CURRENT PLANS’

Striker maintaining his fitness with Bournemouth under-23s

KENNY Jackett is adamant Brett Pitman has not played his last match for Pompey.

But it remains unlikely the ex-Blues skipper will re-emerge from his latest Fratton Park exiling.

Pitman, who has been a sporadic training ground presence since Christmas, has been informed he is not currently part of Jackett’s plans and is maintaining his fitness with Bournemouth’s under-23s.

The Dorset-based striker has been omitted from Pompey’s past seven match-day squads, with his most recent appearance a substitute outing at MK Dons on December 29.

That leaves him on 99 games for the Blues. The club have repeatedly denied rumours that an extension is activated should he reach 100.

Blues manager Jackett said: ‘Brett is not training with us this week and I have told him he is not in my plans at the moment.

‘But, should that change, I won’t hesitate to contact him.

‘He understands. He’s obviously disappointed because he wants to play and hasn’t had the game time of late he would have liked.

‘Similarly, I have brought in the likes of (John) Marquis and Ellis Harrison, with Andy Cannon emerging as a very good number 10.

‘There are lads ahead of him at the moment. If that changes, I won’t hesitate to call.

‘We’ll see if he’ll play (for Pompey) again. It very much depends on injuries and form, which you can’t predict.

‘As a manager, I hope we get no injuries and the team continues to be successful so it stays the same – but experience tells me that doesn’t always happen.

‘Brett will be ticking over and available, should that change.’

Pitman has netted four times in 16 matches for Pompey this season.

Yet it is looking increasingly likely that his last-gasp winner against Altrincham in the FA Cup second round could be the 32-year-old’s final Blues goal.

The striker suffered a similar exiling from the Blues’ squad in January last year, yet returned to provide a massive contribution to the second half of the campaign.

Jackett added: ‘Brett is going to stay local, which is right for him.

‘He has asked me what the situation is and there have been a few players out of the match-day 18 since we had a little influx at the start of January, with (Steve) Seddon, (Cameron) McGeehan and (Reeco) Hackett-Fairchild joining.

‘Since then we’ve also had players come back out of the treatment room. That has left us with quite a good group – and pushed Brett out of the selection places.’