Alex McLeish takes his Blues squad to the south coast next weekend for a double-header against Avram Grant's beleaguered Portsmouth: firstly an FA Cup quarter final on Saturday lunchtime (12:30 ko), then a Premier League fixture on Tuesday evening (previously postponed because of a water-logged pitch).

No doubt the nation's media will see this as a David v Goliath battle, with poor little Pompey striving to keep the club from extinction against the bullies from Birmingham - everybody's least-favourite Premier League side!

Whether the administrator will have dispensed with the services of any of Pompey's many loan players before the weekend remains to be seen, but in any case McLeish's Blues should in theory have too much for their struggling hosts who remain rooted to the foot of the league, even before the deductionof points.

Before the Cup match several of the Blues players must turn out for their national sides in the round of midweek friendly matches: no wonder the 'big' clubs routinely withdraw their star players from these needless extra matches with mystery injuries that invariably and even more mysteriously clear up in the time the weekend's matches!

I can see Blues dominating this one with a masterly display of controlled football, only to go behind with just minutes remaining. An injury-time equaliser will force a replay and keep Blues in the pot for the semi-final draw!

More than anything I'd love a draw. A quarter final replay at a packed St Andrews on a cold March night would be something to really get excited about.

1-1

Well this was the draw that I wanted, but not away from home.

We should win this shouldn't we? We're far too good for that lot, even if they did get a good result at Burnley. I can see them giving us a real game in the face of adversity. This could well be Pompeys last chance of the big tme for decades. I can see a full Fratton Park really getting behind their side.

But we'll be playing the part of the pantomime villain in the medias eyes. No credit (no pun intended) for being a well run football club, growing organically. It'll be poor poor Pompey, as we prove too streetwise, and after an early Portsmouth penalty, we score a couple before half time, and Portsmouth don't have enough to muster up an equaliser. Retribution for sending us down in 2006.


We then join Stoke, Reading and Tottenham in the SF's.

Clearly we will play the same team that started against Wigan, in which case, we could well struggle. We have not had a convincing performance for some time now, with poor, or at least unconvincing performances on the whole against Derby, West Ham, Wolves, Fulham and now Wigan.

The deciding factor could well be whether the midfield is hungry enough. Ferguson has to start passing the ball forward. Larsson needs to attack more and Bowyer and Fahey support the front 2 effectively.

1 goal game and I have a horrible feeling it will be scored by Portsmouth.

I think we'll get royally fecked. 4-0

I think we will sneak it so ...Portsmouth 1 Birmingham City 2...
K.R.O.

It's another 1-0 win for me.

Bad time to play them imo.

The points deduction has all but consigned them to relegation (thanks for the reddies Panjapants) and they are now playing the rest of this season with no fear and with their players in the shop window.
They will be all out for a win and are difficult to beat at home at the best of times.
Add this to the fact that Blues always feck us up when we think things are going well and I see us getting beaten.

Like Mick I'd be delighted with a draw and a replay at St Andys

My natural Blues pessimism is resurfacing again for this one, I think the points deduction and certain relegation will galvanise the Pompey players and the fans as they throw everything they have into the FA Cup and I still think Blues are looking a little jaded after a long period of games with the same 11 or 13 players.

I think we'll lose 2-0 with two stonewall Blues penalty decisions being turned down which Sid 'Arsene' Smith saw nothing wrong with actually?

This season Fortress Fratton is something of an urban myth, I'm pleased to say, Daren. They have played 13 Premier League games at home this season and mustered just three wins and two draws. The wins came against Liverpool, Burnley and Wigan (clearly something to do with the north-west air), with West Ham and Sunderland sharing the spoils on their visits.
But of course this is the Cup, so all things are possible and the form book is irrelevant.
Even allowing for the the inevitable loud and passionate home support, Blues should surely have enough to keep Portsmouth at bay. The question is whether we have enough in the attacking third to come away with a win. I would be surprised if this didn't end up goalless.

0-0.

Our back four to hold out for yet another clean sheet. Our strikers will also hold out for a clean sheet....

Oh joy!

The referee for this one is last week's emergency linesman, Steve Bennett (K*nt)

His last Blues game as referee was the 0-3 defeat at Chelsea in January. Amazingly on that occasion he booked no-one. (Presumably forgot to take his cards out with him!)

His average is 4 cards per game: 24 games, 92 yellows, 4 reds.

To our disadvantage, he will have noted from last week's game Fahey's questionable (to all except Sid) tumble for thepenalty and Ridgewell's rather poorly timed challenge that floored opponent and linesman!

&

Should a replay be necessary, it will take place on Wednesday 17 March with a 7.45 ko.

We're home and hosed - it's pointless Pompey players leaving their dressing room.

"Why?" I hear you ask. (Those voices in my head, again).

Mark Lawrenson has predicted a 2-0 win for Portsmouth.

Simple.

You just know that Quincy is going to score don't you?

Ive a horrible feeling pompey are going to sneak this one, 2-1

someone slap that women with a big wet fish

Lobby's a jerk?

Portsmouth v Birmingham City
FA Cup sixth round

Venue: Fratton Park
Date: Saturday, 6 March
Kick-off: 1230 GMT
Coverage: Live on ITV1, Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live, BBC local radio and BBC Sport website.

TEAM NEWS
Portsmouth defender Ricardo Rocha begins a suspension after his dismissal against Burnley last week and Tal Ben Haim may deputise after groin surgery. Kevin-Prince Boateng is out with ankle problems and Aaron Mokoena is a doubt due to knee ligament damage, but Jamie O'Hara could play despite back trouble.

Birmingham City's James McFadden faces a late check on a groin injury suffered against Wigan last week. Blues manager Alex McLeish has no fresh injury concerns however.

Portsmouth boss Avram Grant:
"For the moment, I think everyone is concentrating on saving the team. This club is very important to us. We are doing everything to save the club and this is the priority. But we have a game on Saturday and if we win, we will be in the last four, so we want to win anyway. Every game is big but I think if we win this one, we will have achieved something this season which is more than exceptional. I never get tired of saying that this is a game of passion, this is a game of emotions. This is not just a game of taking money from here and putting it here. Of course money is important, but with money alone, you will not succeed as a football team. So I try to put myself on the sidelines and remember when I was a child and supported my team. These supporters deserve someone who will fight for them and we are trying."

Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish:
"We've had a great season so far. We want to try and get more points on the board with 11 games to go. The challenge to players is to get 51 points at least, a point per game. If we win the next one, we will be looking again to increase our targets. But the FA Cup is now first and foremost on the horizon - and it is a marvellous opportunity for these players to get to Wembley. We know we are going to be in a real scrap at the weekend and my players will need to roll their sleeves up. I'd be delighted if we can get through to the semi-finals and we are very capable of doing that."

Portsmouth (from): James, Mullins, Piquionne, Wilson, Finnan, Utaka, Webber, Hughes, Ashdown, Belhadj, Yebda, Dindane, Owusu-Abeyie, O'Hara, Hreidarsson, Ben Haim, Mokoena.

Birmingham City (from): Hart, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, Fahey, Jerome, McFadden, Taylor, Phillips, Benitez, Michel, Parnaby, Vignal, Gardner, Queudrue.

BIG-MATCH FACTS
The tie in context
• This is one of three all-Premier League quarter-final ties.

• Winning quarter-finals clubs will be awarded £360,000 in prize money, plus at least another quarter of a million pounds in broadcast rights. Added to that, the club losing in the semi-final will bag another £450,000. However victory for Portsmouth may not be as lucrative, owing to them being in administration.

Head-to-head
• These sides have already met this season in the Premier League at St Andrews, when the home club prevailed.
Birmingham City 1-0 Portsmouth (19 August 2009)
• The last time these two clashed at Fratton Park two years ago, it was a resounding win for Pompey.
Portsmouth 4-2 Birmingham City (12 March 2008)
• These clubs have been drawn to meet each other eight times previously in the FA Cup, and each has progressed on four occasions.

• When Birmingham City won in 1946 and 1972, they went on reach the semi-finals.

The clubs
PORTSMOUTH
Current form
• The club four points adrift at the foot of the Premier League table, with a nine point deduction hanging over their heads, have won two of the last three in league and cup.

• Their only home win in six games since Christmas was against Sunderland in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 23 January.

FA Cup form
• The 1939 and 2008 winners are facing Premier League opposition for the second time in this cup run, having already beaten Sunderland, sandwiched between victories over Championship club Coventry and League One Southampton.

The Manager
• Avram Grant won the Israeli domestic cup on several occasions as coach of Hapoel Petah Tikva, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa.

The Players
• Portsmouth's nine goals in this Cup run have been shared between seven players, excluding one own goal. John Utaka is the only player to have scored twice (both against Sunderland).

• Kevin Boateng could play on his 23rd birthday.

• Steve Finnan could play against his former club.

BIRMINGHAM CITY
Current form
• Won three of the last five in league and cup.

FA Cup form
• The 1931 and 1956 runners-up have knocked out fellow Premier League opposition in Everton in this current run, in addition to Championship clubs Nottingham Forest and Derby.

The Manager
• Alex McLeish won the Scottish FA Cup twice, when in charge of Rangers (2002 and 2003).

The Players
• Birmingham have only scored five goals in this FA Cup run. They have been shared between four players, with Barry Ferguson the only one to have scored twice.

• Kevin Phillips needs to score once to total 250 club goals.

• Gregory Vignal could face his former club.

Replay date
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 (Kick off: 1945 GMT)

Match officials
Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent)
Linesmen: Stephen Child and Adam Watts
Fourth official: Phil Dowd

Story from BBC SPORT

Yeh, 2-4, but we played off the park in the second half. It was an unbelievable loss.

Or am I getting older than old itself?

Me thinks ya right!

As I copied and pasted it from the BBC website, I had exactly the same recollection of that game too!

He's 10/1 with Skybet or 12/1 with Betfair to score first.... ....might be worth the odd tenner..?
K.R.O.

Just had a perusal down the full list and among the bets on offer are : Corals offer 40/1 on Damien Johnson to score first in the Pompey v Blues game, while Stan James are only going 28/1 on Espinoza to score first.. !!...but neither are offering any odds on Trevor Francis to score first ...!
K.R.O.

I wish we would score to shut that darned crowd up.

No major problems so far, Fahey is a bit quiet.

Larsson too.

Ferguson defending more and more.

Messy goal to Pompey.

Benitez on for Larsson please with McFadden slipping in behind the front 2.

Oh shit!

2 - 0 - so much for Wembley.

Feckin pile of shite

Great tackle by Dann on Joe Hart for the first goal. That's one of those 'What was I thinking?' moments if ever I saw one.

And now it's two, and Big Eck brings a creative midfielder off to make way for KP with still four at the back marking two.

Christ - he's brought Benitez on but taken McFadden off instead of Larsson.

Ridgewell goal not seen by linesman

That was in surely!

It was indeed but the people in pink who matter did not see it.

Beaten by yet another poor 45 minutes.

We didn't deserve it, Portsmouth did.

Sad thing is, we have to play this same outfit on Tuesday and unless there is a real change in fecking form, we will lose that too.

Far too many players not producing today, yet again.

useless feckin crap. Thx Mcleish for picking the same c*nts who haven't been performing for weeks now. Would it be too much to ask if we might not see a bit of Michel from hereon? Or anyone else who can pass/trap a football? It was amusing watching our "striker" - you know the one who has scored two penalties all season squander every piece of decent possession that came our way. Feckin idiot! this one fuckin hurt and I'm fucking angry!

Pompey deserved it throughout. I thought we were very poor today but the main talking point will be the goal that wasn't given and we'll hear nothing but a fresh call for goal mouth technology. The simple matter is the linesman fecked up badly there, and I don't think McLeish won any popularity contests in my house by taking Fahey off when we were chasing the game.

I feel a bit cheated today, cheated by the officials who I think had a remit from the FA to try and help Pompey as much as possible because they are on the verge of going under and it would be a nice romantic FA Cup story for everyone if they went through, I also feel cheated by Big Eck who on 59 minutes must surely have seen that McFadden was doing fuck all. We had that great counter attack break with Fads on teh ball and he had the options of either giving it to Jerome or Johnson, so he gave it to the centre half for fucks sake? Eck must surely have seen that we were stale up front and needed to freshen things up? But no, he couldn't see that, he waited until we were 2 goals down to freshen things up??

I hate feeling cheated, I'd much rather we'd have gone down there and been played off the park and lost 4 or 5 nil or something? What a great chance to get to Wembley, a great chance and we just gave it away.

For the first time in my life i switched the match off and didnt watch it til the end because i thought i might actually have a nerrvous break down watching it. Took me a few minutes to find where id thrown the remote along with an array of other things that were near to hand. All i know is we didnt want it enough - if only we could have played with th excitement and passion fans had for this game. 24 years - thanks - thats how long ive waited and i know some of you have waited even longer, and ill most likely continue to wait for it to happen. But at the minute im absolutely peed off and gutted all we need now is to see villa sail through for another day to wembley. I spose i should be saying but look at the league arent we great we are gonna stay up but im too annoyed and generally upset to think that.

A disappointing performance over the 90 minutes thought AM left it a bit too late to change the formation ,could have 'gone for the win' on or about the hour but didn't ,clearly denied a 'goal' by a really piss poor poor decision by an inept official ,whether of course that would have made any difference to the result and we would still be in the hat is hypothetical as we can't do anything about it now,might be the time for 'one or two changes' when we are back there Tuesday..?
K.R.O.

maybe we could change the manager, Sid?

Looks like Eck is going backwards again.....going for the non loss rather than the win...we were very bad...no point in controlling midfield if you have no one to pass the ball too....total shit imo..

that's 3 fa cup quater finals since 84 and in all three we played shit.

Gutted, we just didn't turn up.

Can't think one one of our boys who had a good game but many who had a stinker.

well, theres more than enough reason to freshen things up now.. let's see what he does next week. It was always going to be difficult with the pompey players and their shop window self promoting mercenary syndrome... we lacked the cutting edge in the final third, McFadden guilty on several occasions of not releasing / playing the ball early enough to jerome on the break.

The second goal was too quick after the first, it hardly gives the manager much time to react, we had too many players upfield chasing the game and got hit with a suckerpunch..

disappointing, but with perspective I am happy with the season thus far. I just hope Eck rings the changes for mideweek, he has enough reason after today combined with rotation to change things now that we are safe.

I thought we controlled the first half admirably . . . . but couldn't score goals.

We fell away in the second half somewhat . . . . but still couldn't score goals. Well, more than 'one' anyway.

Those goal predators we tried to sign in January turned into money predators so we walked away. If one of them had seen reason they'd have been on the way to Wembley with us.