JOE’S KEEN TO STEP UP AT POMPEY

Midfielder Morrell on mission

SOMETIMES you have to take one step back before you can take two forward – and Joe Morrell reckons that can apply to his Portsmouth switch.

With his game time limited at Luton last term, the 25-yearold midfielder decided to drop a rung of the ladder to League One Portsmouth to get his career going again.

A combination of factors made Pompey an attractive proposition, not least the fact the Hampshire outfit are a big club and have had Premier League experience.

While they face a fight to make the third tier play-offs this term, Danny Cowley’s men have hit a rich vein of form of late to boost their chances of end of season action – and Morrell believes there is a bright future ahead however this season ultimately pans out.

“I dropped down for regular football but I have never seen myself as purely a League One player,” said the Wales international, right. “I’m only 25 and hopefully have my best years ahead of me.

“Portsmouth is a special club and people say it should be higher. There are reasons why it isn’t but it was a massive factor to come to try to have an impact to get it back to where it has been before.

“Playing in the Championship is my ambition and it would mean so much more with Portsmouth having been here this season. “There are also smaller clubs than Portsmouth in the Premier League. There’s no reason why we couldn’t do it, just like getting into the playoffs this season. Someone has to do it and we are capable, but we have to put things into practice. We aren’t getting carried away.”

In the opening stages of the new year, it looked like Portsmouth’s season was going to fizzle out, but a seven-game unbeaten run – with six wins – pre-weekend had lifted Pompey to tenth, just five points off the play-offs.

Stronger

“We strengthened in the transfer window and are in a much stronger place,” explained Morrell. “We have had a good run recently and have done well to put ourselves in a position to threaten at the end of the season but we aren’t getting ahead of ourselves.

“We have got some high pressure games coming up but that’s the reason you join this football club. The size of the club and fanbase are a massive part of it. We’ll give it our best shot.”

The chance to link up again with the Cowley brothers, boss Danny and assistant Nicky, was another key variable in Morrell’s decision to plump for the Fratton Park outfit. He previously played under them on loan at Lincoln from Bristol City.

“They are two people I have had a great relationship with,” he added. “I was really keen to play for the manager again. I spoke to him a lot in the summer, probably more than any other manager.

“It was something I wanted to do and I have loved it so far this season. I have a home at this football club.”