Portsmouth stance on Preston North End, Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle linked man emerges

Portsmouth are unlikely to make a summer move for Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Marc Leonard - who has been linked with Preston North End.

That is according to our colleagues at The News, who have played down the suggestion of Pompey swooping in for Leonard. The 22-year-old has spent the last two seasons with Northampton Town, with five goals scored in 40 League One appearances this campaign. The Glaswegian will have one year left to run on his Brighton contract (with option), this summer.

Ex-PNE midfielder, John Mousinho - current Portsmouth head coach - was spotted watching a recent Northampton match. That fuelled speculation of the Fratton Park side targeting Leonard, but Mousinho has assured his trip to Sixfields was to cast an eye over fellow promotion chasers, Derby County - who were beaten 1-0 last weekend.

He said: "Same again! It just so happens, at the moment, that a lot of the sides we’re going to watch seem to clash with watching Northampton. It was a really good game to watch, with Derby as our opposition and coming up in a few days. It’s just a good opportunity to watch a game live.

"As coaches there are so few games we can get to which fall within, first of all, a decent enough geography for us to get to games after training. But it’s also the game falling on a day we don’t have a game. So it’s really important for us to watch teams live; we picked up some good stuff."

Portsmouth are top of League One, after 39 games - five points clear of Derby in second and nine points ahead of third placed Bolton Wanderers. The aforementioned report claims that Leonard is not viewed, by Pompey, as someone ready to play at a higher level next season. PNE, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City and Swansea City have all been linked with Leonard in recent weeks.