Pompey hampered by financial issues

Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton admits the longer the club's financial turmoil continues the harder it will become to maintain high spirits within his dressing room.

Appleton was speaking after watching his players show plenty of heart amid a battling display against promotion-chasing Birmingham, only for highly-rated 17-year-old Nathan Redmond to clinch a 1-0 win for the hosts with a superbly-taken 86th-minute volley.

Pompey's players and staff are still waiting to receive their January wages after the club's bank accounts were frozen having been issued with a winding-up order by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs over an unpaid tax bill. Appleton revealed there are no new developments in the club's battle for financial survival, but said: "I'm hoping for news over the next couple of days."

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