Today sees us return to Premier League action after our narrow win in the cup against Forest.

Alex McLeish said today on Sky Sports news that new boy Michel would be in the squad after getting clearance, although he probably won’t start. He gave a very strong indication that we will be unchanged again.

What of Pompey? I guess things couldn’t be any worse for them at the moment. They will be without their African Cup of Nations players with Nadir Belhadj, Hassan Yebda, Aruna Dindane and Kanu all absent.

Loan signing Jamie O’Hara was due to return to White Hart Lane on Friday, although it was hoped that the loan could be extended despite the transfer embargo.

Younes Kaboul, Steve Finnan, Tal Ben-Haim and Richard Hughes – may be available, as might David James who’s loan move to Stoke failed to happen.

So to the game. We played Portsmouth in our 1st home game of the season. A last minute McFadden penalty gave us all 3 points in what I gather was a pretty unforgettable game.

A lot has happened since then. Portsmouth have continued to struggle, although they haven’t necessarily played badly. Their big problem seems to be their defence. The defence, however, seems to be our strength with one of the meanest defences in the league thanks to the awesome partnership of Hart, Carr, Dann, Johnson and Ridgewell.

Both sides have struggled to score goals – although if you are defending well, you often only have to score 1 goal. Amazing that the last time we played there, there were 6 goals with Pompey beating us 4-2 despite us pegging them back to 2-2 at one point.

I believe that Portsmouth will struggle dealing with the pace of Jerome and Chucho. However this is the sort of game that we often struggle in and I could see us coming to the end of our run at Fratton Park. I doubt that any more than 1 goal will deal with it despite others more confident predictions.

I believe it’ll be a draw. I’ll go for 1-1.