MOORE will not mean less at Pompey according to boss Alan Ball.

The expected signing of Bradford central defender darren Moore on Monday will not signal a clearing of the decks by the Pompey boss, who suddenly has a paper surfeit of central defenders at the club.

With Jason Cundy not a million miles away from fitness, Moore will be competing with him, Adie Whitbread, Michalis Vlachos, Andy Awford, David Waterman and loan signing Tommy Berntsen for the places at the heart of the Pompey defence.

But, although that looks top heavy and places a burden on the wage bill, Ball will not be lightening the load.

"I'm trying to build here and although it looks as though I have got a lot of central defenders, as you've seen over the recent weeks the squad isn't huge. I only need a couple of injuries to be back to square one.

"I haven't got any thoughts of having a clear out, nor have I been told there is any need to. In fact, I'm hoping to bring in more players in the not too distant future."

One player who might appear to be under most threat by Moore's arrival is Berntsen, currently on a month's loan from Norwegian club Lillestrom.

Although Berntsen has a contract at Lillestrom to go back to when the Norwegian season kicks off in the new year, he's keen to have a crack at the English game by persuading Ball to table a bid to make his loan move permanent.

"He's over here for a month and he needs to show me what he can do, and I'll take into account the fact he's currently carrying an injury," said Ball.

Meanwhile, French midfielder Jeff Peron is likely to feature somewhere in the picture for tomorrow's visit to West Bromwich Albion. Out since October 2 with a calf injury Peron is not likely to be in the starting line-up but Ball is keen to get him involved in some way.

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