Nugent No Go at Pompey

In accordance with Barclays Premier League Rules which stipulate players on loan are not allowed to play against their parent club, David Nugent will miss the clash this Saturday at Fratton Park against bottom club, Portsmouth.

The former Preston striker was signed on loan from Pompey with minutes to spare on the last day of the Summer 2009 transfer window with a six month loan spell agreed

Owen Coyle has made it plain that he hopes to sign Nugent on a permanent deal in January and if that can be agreed, Nugent will at least then be able to play against his former team mates in the return game at Turf Moor on Saturday 27th February 2010.

Coyle said recently:

'I don't know the answer from a Portsmouth side of things but I do know that from Burnley's perspective that David Nugent has been a breath of fresh air since he came here and I want him here permanently. There are a number of factors to be looked at but what I would say in terms of David as a lad and a player is I am absolutely thrilled with how he has done.

'He will be a little bit frustrated that there are a few games he has not started but I think he recognises that it is down to the form of Steven Fletcher and not anything he has done. I love working with him, he comes in with a smile on his face, he's a natural finisher, he has pace to burn and is still such a young player at 24 years of age.

'There is such a fantastic career in front of him and I would like to think I could help him to maximise his potential.'

Two things could affect Coyle's plans to sign Nugent permanently in the January window. New Pompey manager, Avram Grant could decide Nugent is a player he would like to see play for Portsmouth despite the player being given the cold-shoulder by other managers at Fratton Park in the past including Harry Redknapp, Tony Adams and more recently the recently departed Paul Hart.

Even if Nugent doesn't feature in Grant's plans he could slap a high price tag on the player and the money to buy him might not be available.

If that is the case, there may be an opportunity to extend the loan instead, in which case of course he will be sidelined again for the Pompey game in February.

However all that is for the future, our immediate priority will be to try and get our first away win on the board when we travel to Fratton Park this Saturday.

Nugent of course has not been an automatic selection for the starting eleven in recent games with Coyle preferring to play Fletcher as the loan striker. He has though been on the bench for the last four matches and come on at some point in every game. He has looked lively but so far has failed to act as 'supersub' and add to the brace he got against Sunderland back in September at Turf Moor.

Owen Coyle will probably stick with Steven Fletcher up front for the game on Saturday but with both Martin Paterson and Jay Rodriguez still some weeks away from full recovery from their injuries the only other recognised striker available is Steven Thompson. Thompson has been another regular on the bench this season but has yet to start his first League game this season, having also been an unused sub in the last four matches. I suspect we will see Thommo on the bench again but this time with a strong chance he could feature in the second-half in Nugent's absence.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.