Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley said his side would have still wanted to play Bolton Wanderers this weekend despite losing players for the international break.
Wanderers do not play this weekend owing to the planned trip to Fratton Park to take on Pompey being cancelled due to call-ups within the squads. Conor Bradley and Dion Charles are in the Northern Ireland squad, while Amadou Bakayoko is with Sierra Leone and James Trafford is with the England under-21s camp.
It is likely to now be a Tuesday evening clash when it is eventually rescheduled and be played later on this season. The game being called off was anticipated owing to the international stars within the Bolton squad.
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Pompey have had international call-ups too. These have included Joe Morell for the senior Wales set-up and Harry Jewitt-White for the country's youth side, with Alfie Bridgman on Malta under-19 duty and duo Josh Griffiths and Dane Scarlett for England under-21s and under-20s respectively.
Cowley says Wanderers took the decision to postpone the game, something which Pompey respect. But Portsmouth boss Cowley wanted the game to go ahead as planned, even though they too would have missed players.
Cowley told the News : "It’s unfortunate for us really (the international break) because we’d like to be playing Bolton this weekend and certainly if it had been on our terms we would have played the game. Even though we’d have some key players missing, it was still our ambition to play.
"We totally respect Bolton making the decision, though, and it’s their prerogative to do so. But when you do get a break, it’s about making the most of it.
"For us, it’s given us good time to reflect on the start and look at the processes and how the teams is functioning both in possession and against the ball. It’s also about trying to make some self improvements and then the next week the focus will be very much on Ipswich."
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