Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric has denied rumours that he is considering approaching Saints for a possible ground share if Fratton Park is closed for rebuilding.

There are no firm plans for Pompey's new ground yet but there is a suggestion that a 36,000 capacity stadium may be built on the current Fratton Park site, leading to it's closure during development.

If the building work could not be completed during the close season, it could leave Pompey without a ground to stage their home fixtures.

But Mandaric has insisted he would rather use a limited capacity Fratton Park than ground share and, even if he did, it wouldn't be at St Mary's.

He said: "I don't think our supporters would appreciate seeing their club playing at Southampton, so I've ruled that one out completely."

Mandaric also denied having approached Reading about the possibility of using the Madjeski Stadium.

"Reading would be very unlikely," he added. "I firmly believe our supporters would prefer us to stay in our current home for the time being, even if the capacity is smaller. That's what I'd rather do."

Aston Villa's out-in-the-cold midfielder Steve Stone is joining Portsmouth on loan.

The former England player will link up again with his ex-Villa colleague Paul Merson at Fratton Park.

The ex-Nottingham Forest player was already well down the pecking order before the signing of right-sided midfielder Ulises de la Cruz from Hibernian in August.

Stone cost £5million when he moved from the City Ground to Villa four years ago but in the current climate he would command only a fraction of that price if a permanent deal with Portsmouth became a possibility.