Nugent incident adds to Pompey's problems

(GETTY IMAGES)

Portsmouth's dismal summer went from bad to worse last night when it emerged that one-cap England striker David Nugent was sent home early from a pre-season trip for an incident with a team-mate during a late-night drinking session.

A club spokesman was unavailable to respond to allegations last night that Nugent fought with Marc Wilson, 21, a Republic of Ireland under-21 international, after a drinking spree on Sunday night. However a club statement said: "Both David Nugent and Marc Wilson have been disciplined for a breach of club discipline while on the trip to Portugal. The matter will be dealt with in-house."

Nugent is alleged to have been sent home with Wilson, a former Manchester United trainee, earlier than the rest of the squad who were staying at the Villa Hotel in Guimaraes when the incident took place. The news came at the end of another turbulent day for the club in which prospective new owner Sulaiman al-Fahim warned more players could be sold.

The Abu Dhabi property developer, who has outlined his intention to buy the club, took the unusual step of issuing a statement on the club's website to clarify that he was still interested in buying Portsmouth. With Glen Johnson and Peter Crouch already gone this summer, he did not rule out selling more players.

Al-Fahim said: "While it is our intention to add strength to the existing squad we cannot rule out the possibility of selling more players should the takeover not happen. During this transitional phase the priority has been to keep the football club operating.

"The need to meet scheduled loan repayments to banks has meant that the club has had to sell players such as Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe in January and more recently Peter Crouch and Glen Johnson.

"We know only too well that we need to add to the first-team squad but at this moment in time there is a limited amount we can do until the takeover is completed. We can assure everybody that Peter Storrie, the board and everyone at the club is working tirelessly to keep [the club] running as smoothly as possible in these difficult circumstances.

"Now we are in the final stages of the transaction and I will exercise every effort to complete it as soon as possible in the interests of the club and the supporters."