Portsmouth v Birmingham preview

Grant: Blues showdown

PREDICTIONS:

Skysports.com prediction: Portsmouth 2 Birmingham 1

SKYBET odds: Portsmouth 11/8, Draw 23/10, Birmingham 19/10

One to watch: Michel

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Portsmouth continue their mission impossible when Birmingham return to Fratton Park for the second time in four days.

The South Coast outfit lifted some of the gloom which has enveloped their season by securing a place at Wembley in the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory over Blues on Saturday.

Avram Grant's side, who are already five points adrift of safety at the foot of the table, are facing a further nine-point penalty from the Premier League having slipped into administration late last month.

Pompey are, by their standards, enjoying an impressive recent run of form, having won three of their last four matches in all competitions and can claim back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time this season if they see off Birmingham once again.

Alex McLeish's side were left bitterly disappointed by their weekend reverse, when two goals from Frederic Piquionne settled the tie, with the visitors left to rue the decision not to allow a late header from Liam Ridgewell which appeared to cross the line.

Birmingham reached the 40-point mark, widely regarded as the total required to secure safety, with their 1-0 victory over Wigan in their last Premier League outing.

But McLeish will not want their season to fizzle out after seeing their FA Cup dreams dashed at the weekend and will demand a response from his players to ensure they end the season with a flourish.

Team news

The Scot is set to give a first start to January transfer window signing Michel after pledging to freshen up his side from the weekend.

Michel has only had the occasional run-out as a substitute since moving to the Blues from Sporting Gijon but will have a chance to prove his worth on the South Coast.

McLeish has no fresh injury worries and has set Birmingham a target of a minimum of 51 points by the end of the campaign.

Portsmouth will be without midfielders John Utaka and Hassan Yebda due to injury.

Utaka has a tight groin following Saturday's cup success, while Yebda is seeing a specialist about a persistent knee injury.

Aaron Mokoena is doubtful with a knee ligament problem and Kevin-Prince Boateng is still in Germany undergoing treatment on an ankle injury.

Defender Ricardo Rocha serves the second of a two-game ban after his red card against Burnley on 27th February.

Possible starting XIs

Portsmouth: James, Finnan, Ben-Haim, Hreidarsson, Belhadj, Brown, Wilson, O'Hara, Webber, Piquionne, Owusu-Abeyie.

Birmingham: Hart, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larsson, Bowyer, Ferguson, Michel, Benitez, Jerome.