Pompey travel to St. Andrew's tommorow to play one of their games in hand against high flying Birmingham City.
Team News
Michael Appleton is set to name the same side that thrashed Peterborough last week as David Norris is still suspended and both Aaron Mokoena and Luke Varney are still injured.
Chris Hughton may stick to the same side that could only manage a goalless draw with Southampton on Saturday, though Nikola Zigic may be available again after missing out.
The Match
The Pompey players are still yet to be paid despite Balram Chainrai claiming they have. He has now flown over from Hong Kong to "help" the club whilst Andrew Andronikou has stated that the club's future will be clear by the end of the week as the race for a buyer enters its final stages.
To be honest, I'm sick to death of hearing about off-the-field issues and just want to watch some football tomorrow, unless the game is called off that is.
Birmingham were forced to play our rivals in farcical conditions on Saturday but the weather forecast doesn't mention any snow due in the West Midlands tomorrow, but it will still be icy.
It'll be difficult to predict what sort of match we'll be in for. Under normal circumstances Birmingham would be the clear favourites as they have been in superb form since the turn of the year and will probably finish the season in an automatic promotion spot.
However, if the pitch is covered in snow and the surface is slippy then the game might descend into a long ball affair. If that's the case, then you'd have to believe that we would have the advantage with Marko Futacs up front and Erik Huseklepp to mop up any loose balls that drop behind him.
Of course, if the pitch remains green then that doesn't mean to say we're guaranteed to lose. 'Appy has done a fantastic job in keeping the players focused and in Kelvin Etuhu we have an individual capable of turning the game in our favour.
If the likes of Marlon King can be kept quiet and the midfield battle can be won then there is hope of getting a result.
But in all honesty, the most important thing right now is that we get results off the pitch and fast.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Birmingham
GK: Boaz MYHILL
RB: Jonathan SPECTOR
CB: Curtis DAVIES
CB: Stephen CALDWELL
LB: David MURPHY
RM: Jordan MUTCH
CM: Keith FAHEY
CM: Guirane N'DAW
LM: Chris BURKE
CF: Adam ROONEY
CF: Marlon KING
Pompey
GK: Stephen HENDERSON
RB: Tal BEN-HAIM
CB: Jason PEARCE
CB: Ricardo ROCHA
LB: Greg HALFORD
RM: Kelvin ETUHU
CM: Joel WARD
CM: Hayden MULLINS
LM: Liam LAWRENCE
SS: Erik HUSEKLEPP
CF: Marko FUTACS
Last Time: Birmingham City 1 Portsmouth 0 (Premier League - 19/08/2009)
A dire game was settled in the last minute of stoppage time via a controversial penalty decision after David James was judged to have impeded Sebastien Larsson when going for the ball in the box.
James McFadden stepped up and scored the spot kick to rile the travelling fans as a bad start to the season got worse.
My Prediction
It may all depend on the weather but Birmingham look to have the bit between their teeth. We'll put up a fight but anything at St. Andrew's tomorrow will be a bonus.
Birmingham City 2 Portsmouth 1