Portsmouth confirm Cole set to leave

Portsmouth’s former England striker Andy Cole is set to join Birmingham on loan after only eight months at Fratton Park.

The 35-year-old striker, who has made only nine first-team starts for Pompey since a £500,000 moive from Manchester City in August, approached boss Harry Redknapp over his frustration at not playing regularly.

And he has been given the green light to go on loan to Championship promotion-chasers Birmingham until the end of the season.

Steve Bruce’s relegated club, currently second in the table with a game in hand over leaders Derby, are set to take over his lucrative contract until the end of May.

But former Newcastle, Manchester United and Fulham ace Cole has another year on his deal with Pompey and could return next season – depending on how he performs at St Andrews.

Redknapp believes his side can cope without Cole even though they have struggled to score goals lately.

The striker, who won 15 caps for England, has started just five Premiership games for Portsmouth and made 13 appearances from the bench. He has scored three Premiership goals – the last at Bolton in December – and one more in an FA Cup third-round win over Wigan.

Redknapp said: “Andy came to see me and said ’Harry, I’m 35, I want to be playing all the time’. I understand where he is coming from.

“He wants to play regularly. He’s one of those guys who wants to be starting every game. And you have got to respect him for that.

“If he feels like that, you can’t stand in his way. He’s not happy to just sit back and take his money.

“It’s been difficult fitting him into the team every week with the other strikers we have. Birmingham want to take over his contract until May 30, which covers the play-offs.

“So it all depends on what happens at Birmingham and what he wants to do.”

Cole’s unsettled state at Fratton Park has been evident for some time. In January he was allowed to speak to Everton about a loan move there after earlier enquiries about him from Charlton and West Ham.

He is a former Old Trafford team-mate of Bruce who hopes he can bring the goals to sustain Birmingham’s promotion hopes.

They have not scored more than one goal in a league game since December, and their most experienced fit striker is former Pompey trainee Rowan Vine, now 24, who joined from Luton in January.

Bruce said: “We are hopeful of getting Andy on loan for the rest of the season. It is not done yet but we’ve had talks and are hopeful of tying it up if we can sort out one or two loose ends.

“I played with Andy at Manchester United – although it was a long time ago - and he is a top, top professional who looks after himself. That’s why he is still a Premiership player at 35 to 36.

“I just feel we need that extra bit of experience and quality up front. We have very young players at the top end of the pitch, people like Cameron Jerome, DJ Campbell and Nicklas Bendtner although they all have great potential.

“I just feel at this stage Andy could be of great benefit to us and hopefully, if he comes here, can help us to get across the finishing line in what is a very tight promotion battle with eight teams still in contention.”