New Portsmouth boss Tony Adams does not expect to have to preside over a January sale but insists he will not force any unhappy players to stay.

Portsmouth have valuable players such as Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Niko Kranjcar, Glen Johnson and Sylvain Distin, plus veteran England stars in David James and Sol Campbell.

He said: "I've never been the players' mate since I started work here two and a half years ago with Harry. I'm Billy No-Mates actually but I speak to the players and it is not a question of them wanting to go anywhere.

"None of them have come to me but if they want to go I will let them go.

"I want people who want to play for Portsmouth. Absolutely. It would be the case wherever.

"The manager at Arsenal would be no different. If you said to him you didn't want to play for Arsenal he would let you go.

"You've got to have players who are happy and want to play for the football club 100%. That's got to be crystal clear. It's no good having players who don't want to play for you. It does you no good in the end. That's my experience."