Team News
Frederic Piquionne is set for his Pompey debut after his impressive showing against Rangers but Anthony Vanden Borre can't make his first appearance for the club because the Italian FA have failed to process his international clearance on time.
Former Fulham right back Steve Finnan is out injured with a hamstring problem as is Hermann Hreidarsson with the same injury. The better news is that David James has been passed fit for the match so Antti Niemi will sit on the bench against his former team.
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has virtually a full squad to choose from though former Pompey striker Diomansy Kamara will miss out with a knee injury.
The Match
Here we go then, 38 games of backs-to-the-wall performances, 9 months of defiant attitude from the fans of a club who have already been written off by the majority of journalists & pundits and it all begins with a tough fixture against Europa League hopefuls Fulham.
The Cottagers' season has already begun as Roy Hodgson's men recorded a 6-0 aggregate win over FK Vetra in the Europa League. They are quietly fancied to do well this year because of a rock solid defence marshalled by man-mountain Brede Hangeland.
They're not overly impressive up front though. Andrew Johnson isn't as prolific as he once was and Bobby Zamora is not a player who should scare Premier League defences.
I feel if we play like we did against Rangers then we have more than a chance but the players need to know that we are 100% behind him so I don't want to see the likes of Hayden Mullins get booed if he misplaces a pass. We all need to stick together and make Fratton Park an intimidating place to come to for the visitors.
One thing that did worry me last Saturday was our defence. Nadir Belhadj and Younes Kaboul were guilty of a few errors that are more likely to be punished tomorrow but on the flip side they offer plenty going forward and should cause some problems down the wings.
The Wardrobe and The Axe have plenty of fouls to commit if they're going to stop the irritants that are Danny Murphy and Clint Dempsey whilst Sylvain Distin is going to have to lead by example and shut down Fulham's attack as I can't see us scoring many.
But if we're all unified and the team sense this and give everything they have then I'm sure we can get a result against a club that never start the season very well.
Of course, eyes will also turn to events off the pitch as Sulaiman Al-Fahim promised that he would turn up to Fratton Park tomorrow. Whether he does so remains to be seen and it will be interesting to see what sort of reception he will get.
I'm really looking forward to this one now. We have a lot of critics to prove wrong tomorrow and in the months to come.
Play Up Pompey!
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Portsmouth
GK: David JAMES
RB: Younes KABOUL
CB: Sylvain DISTIN
CB: Marc WILSON
LB: Nadir BELHADJ
RM: John UTAKA
CM: Papa BOUBA DIOP
CM: Aaron MOKOENA
CM: Hayden MULLINS
LM: Niko KRANJCAR
CF: Frederic PIQUIONNE
Fulham
GK: Mark SCHWARZER
RB: John PAINTSIL
CB: Aaron HUGHES
CB: Brede HANGELAND
LB: Paul KONCHESKY
RM: Bjorn Helge RIISE
CM: Danny MURPHY
CM: Dickson ETUHU
LM: Clint DEMPSEY
CF: Bobby ZAMORA
CF: Andrew JOHNSON
Last Time: Portsmouth 1 Fulham 1
The future Spurs striking duo combined together for Peter Crouch to score on the night where Tony Adams first took charge of Pompey following Harry Redknapp's shock departure.
Pompey looked like they were going to win but Clint Dempsey rifled in an equaliser in the 87th minute to stun Fratton Park.
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Away Win (0-2)
Sky Sports: Away Win (0-3)
Soccernet: Away Win
My Prediction: Paul Hart's team talk has already been done for him as everyone thinks we're going to lose this game. I think we're being under-estimated and we have a first XI good enough to match Fulham's. We can't under-estimate the opposition though so I think we'll draw this one.
Pompey 1 Fulham 1