Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp has ruled out offloading misfiring striker David Nugent on loan.

The £6 million summer signing from Preston has failed to make his mark at Fratton Park and with competition intense for a place in Pompey's starting line-up, a move back to his former club had been mooted.

Portsmouth have been short in the striking department over recent weeks with Kanu and John Utaka away on African Nations duty, but with the pair now back home - and January signings Jermain Defoe and Milan Baros also fighting for a place - it was thought that Nugent would be considered surplus to requirements.

Ipswich had also been mentioned as a possible destination for the 22-year-old, but Redknapp has moved to quash the speculation, saying he feels that despite his apparent riches in the striking department, he is still short.

Redknapp said: "Those suggestions are absolute rubbish. There is not a chance. Do you think I paid all that money to sign him from Preston and then loan him back? That wouldn't be very clever.

"I've got just three strikers at the moment - if Kanu is fit. He got a knee injury in Africa and Utaka is really a winger. We are not exactly overloaded still for strikers."

Nugent - who is currently out after undergoing a hernia operation - has made just four starts in a Portsmouth shirt since quitting Deepdale and is yet to find the back of the net in the Premier League.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport