Despite recently-improved form, Portsmouth are still three points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League table, with defensive errors costing them dear in a 3-1 defeat at Blackburn.   However, Pompey non-executive chairman Sulaiman Al-Fahim has declared that the club’s latest borrowings will lead to a welcome period of financial stability for the cash-strapped South Coast outfit.   Portsmouth remain under a transfer embargo mainly because of money owed to other Premier League clubs, and it is hoped that these debts will be cleared to allow Paul Hart to operate in the January transfer window.

Despite recently-improved form, Portsmouth are still three points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League table, with defensive errors costing them dear in a 3-1 defeat at Blackburn.

However, Pompey non-executive chairman Sulaiman Al-Fahim has declared that the club’s latest borrowings will lead to a welcome period of financial stability for the cash-strapped South Coast outfit.

Portsmouth remain under a transfer embargo mainly because of money owed to other Premier League clubs, and it is hoped that these debts will be cleared to allow Paul Hart to operate in the January transfer window.

Meanwhile chief executive Peter Storrie has finally appeared in court to face charges of “cheating the public revenue,” charges which he and the club have been at massive pains to rubbish.

Jamie O’Hara’s long-range effort gave Pompey a half-time lead at Ewood Park before substitute Jason Roberts bagged two of Blackburn’s three unanswered second-half goals.

Matters remain tight at the foot of the table, however. Indeed, Portsmouth would have leapfrogged Rovers and got out of the bottom three if they’d been able to hold onto their lead.

The club have secured a £10m loan, believed to be from Hong Kong businessman Balran Chainrai, which will enable them to pay money owed to Arsenal and Chelsea for the transfers of Lassana Diarra and Glen Johnson respectively.

Both players subsequently moved on for a combined total of nearly £30m, but this money was swallowed up by other debts. And the Premier League imposed a transfer embargo on Pompey last month.

However, the new loan, from Chainrai-owned company Portpin Limited, should see the embargo lifted, according to executive director Mark Jacob.

Jacob said: “We have had to stabilise the club in the short-term and we are now confident we have done that.”

Minor shareholder Fahim went further. In an interview with Arabian Business magazine, he claimed: “The club has made the revenue payments and the embargo on the club will be cleared by Tuesday (November 17^th)”, By Thursday 19^th, the embargo had not been lifted.

Fahim added: “The club will be able to buy a few players during the next transfer window and I am giving back property rights so that they can upgrade the current stadium.”

The club has furiously defended chief executive Peter Storrie, who appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates’ court on November 16^th to face tax evasion charges.

These relate to midfielder Amdy Faye’s transfer to Portsmouth in August 2003 and cover a four-and-a-half-year period to November 2007.

It is alleged that a signing-on fee was paid directly to an agent to avoid tax and national insurance deductions. Storrie has consistently denied all wrongdoing.

A statement issued on the club’s website, and subsequently withdrawn, claimed that an 11-page summary of the prosecution’s case contained “the same ‘flight of fantasy’ as earlier disclosures.”

It continued: “We maintain that these proceedings are a waste of public monies…Mr Storrie and his family eagerly anticipate the exoneration that will follow.”

Portsmouth visit Stoke City in the Premier League this Sunday.