month. After the departure of Harry Redknapp as manager and alleged comments by Hislop, a new goalkeeper, Kostas Chalkias, was brought to the club and given the first-team place. After a number of poor performances by Chalkias, he returned to the starting line–up against Newcastle United on 19 March 2005, as Portsmouth drew 1–1. Ashdown was again restored to the first team and remained there for the remainder of the season. At the end of the 2004–05 season, he made nineteen appearances in all competitions. In August 2005, Portsmouth signed another goalkeeper, Sander Westerveld, and Ashdown was in competition with him at the beginning of the 2005–06 season for a first-team place. Westerveld started the season as first-choice 'keeper. However, after a number of poor performances by Westerveld, he was dropped and Ashdown was again called on as Portsmouth's number one goalkeeper, making his first appearance of the season against Everton on 10 September 2005 and kept a clean sheet, as the club won 1–0. In the second round of the League Cup match against Gillingham, Ashdown was at fault when he made two mistakes, including scoring an own goal, in a 3–2 loss, eliminating the club from the tournament. Despite this, he remained as Portsmouth's first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the year, though his mistakes continued along the way. This lasted until Ashdown suffered an injury while warming up prior to a match against Fulham on 1 January 2006. After missing two matches, he returned to the starting line–up against Everton on 14 January 2006, as the club lost 1–0. With the return of former manager Harry Redknapp, Ashdown was dropped to second choice again after the arrival of Dean Kiely from Charlton Athletic in January 2006. At the end of the 2005–06 season, he went on to make seventeen appearances in all competitions. The 2006–07 season Ashdown faced even more competition from new high-profile signing David James. Even he returned in late 2006, Ashdown did not feature in the first team due to the presence of David James during the 2006–07 season. On 28 January 2007, he signed a contract with Portsmouth, keeping him until 2010. The 2007–08 season saw Ashdown continuing to remain as Portsmouth's second choice goalkeeper behind James. He made his first appearance for the club in over a year against Leeds United in the second round of the League Cup and kept