Make the city proud, Pompey

If there is to be a pinnacle of Pompey's current era, tonight is surely the night.

Don't get me wrong, the trips to Wembley were gloriously spine-tingling.

But earning the right to play AC Milan in a competitive fixture? That's off the scale.

Kaka (one of the best players in the world) will line up at Fratton Park with Ronaldinho (one of the best players in the world) ready to come off the bench.

The Rossoneri are taking this seriously. That's the mark of Pompey's progress in recent years.

These are uncertain times at Pompey following Harry Redknapp's departure but, for all the scale of tonight's occasion, we mustn't cower in the face of the Italians.

Pompey are a quality team in their own right.
The worry is, of course, that the spine of this side is missing.

Jermain Defoe, Lassana Diarra and Sol Campbell are definitely out, seemingly undermining Tony Adams' faith that his charges can still pull off a Uefa Cup shock.

The creative Niko Kranjcar is also missing, although the absence of John Utaka won't break too many Pompey hearts.

Personally, I just hope Pompey do the city proud.

Historic is an overused word, but this really is a game people will remember for generations.

After the struggles of the 90s, to see the boys in blue give it absolutely everything against Milan will be enough for me.

If Adams' team do that they give themselves a chance of getting a result. That's all anyone can ask.

To those people who seized the chance to watch the likes of Seedorf, Kaka, Pato, Shevchenko, Pirlo, Ronaldinho et al train at Fratton Park last night, I applaud you.

This is not something which you can expect to come round that often.

Obviously, the hope is Pompey will build on their recent success and Euro nights like this will be more common in the future.

The reality is this may not happen.

So join me in savouring watching Pompey v AC Milan under the Fratton Park floodlights in a crunch Uefa Cup game.

Play up Pompey.

Put your feet up Niko

Niko Kranjcar does not strike me as a naturally fit athlete.
Whenever the talented Croatian is a yard off the pace, it shows.
When he first joined Pompey he was sluggish and at the start of this season he’s been sluggish.
However, for the season in between he’s been fantastic and without doubt he’s one of the club’s leading lights.
Last campaign proved he had adapted to the Premier League, but by the end he looked like he was feeling it.
Then instead of resting, he had the demands of a European Championship with Croatia to deal with.
The result, despite additional time off, was he came back to England and looked knackered.
His ruptured ankle ligaments, therefore, is a blessing in disguise.
No injury is good news, but providing he comes back focused and puts in some hard yards, he’ll have had the rest he needed in the summer.
Pompey will get a classy ball-player back on top form ready for the Christmas period.
They’ll resist the temptation to flog him to Arsenal or Monaco and and he’ll orchestrate a Pompey surge into the top six.
That’s the plan anyway!