Portsmouth chief Peter Storrie has admitted defeat in pursuit of three midfield signings.

"Patrick (Vieira) is someone we would be very keen to bring here," Storrie said. "Obviously, he is very well known to Tony, but my understanding is that he's got an injury and that won't be possible in this window.

"With Gary O'Neil (Middlesbrough) and Edu (Valencia), the clubs changed their mind - there wasn't much we could do about that.

"As far as I understand, both of those deals are now dead."