O'Hara committed to the Pompey fight

Portsmouth's on-loan midfielder Jamie O'Hara has committed himself to Pompey's relegation battle.

The 23-year old is on loan til January, but is keen to stay at Fratton Park for the rest of the season if Spurs don't need his services.

O'Hara has scored twice for the Blues this season and is determined to carry on fighting for the Fratton Park outfit to keep them up.

He said: 'I'm enjoying my football and I'm playing every week. That's all I can ask for," O'Hara told The News.

'Maybe, I was disappointed with the performance at Blackburn but I'm enjoying it.

'All I want to do as a footballer in the Premier League is play football.

'I say to myself, 'how would it look to the Pompey fans if I left in January?'

'They travel away and come to every game and we're fighting for every point.

'Then come January I pack up and go back to Tottenham, and I'm back in the comfort zone.

'How does it look to them? Maybe it looks like I've walked away from a fight.

'I'm not that type of person. I want to be there for the team and the club. I want to help us get out of trouble.'

African Cup of Nations to sink Pompey's battleship?

As many know, the African Cup of Nations has come around once again this coming January, and once again the cup will be a big strain on Pompey's squad.

Club captain Aaron Mokoena won't be travelling for the competition after South Africa failed to qualify, but Pompey will be losing the likes of Nwankwo Kanu and John Utaka to Nigeria, Hassan Yedba and Nadir Belhadj to Algeria, Aruna Dindane to Ivory Coast, and the possibility of Kevin-Prince Boateng to Ghana if he gets called up.

Although Boateng is German, he has dual citizenship, making him eligible for the competition if Ghana decided to call him up, and Boateng accepts.

Portsmouth manager Paul Hart believes the back-bone of the side will be travelling to Africa for the tournament and could miss some vital games ahead of the Blues' relegation scrap and could affect the January transfer window.

'I brought it to people’s notice a month ago, because it will take the spine out of the team and could be a difficult situation.

'I think Boateng wants to play for Ghana, so I couldn’t stand in his way.

'We have priorities for January if we do anything in the transfer market.

'But who is to say that January is a good time to buy players anyway? Historically it’s not.

'I’m not so sure it is the best time, so it is not as simple as just getting a load of money and splashing it.

'Who is going to let their best players go in January, so what do you actually end up getting?”

The competition runs from 10th-31st January and will mean players who progress further through the competition will miss home games against Birmingham City and West Ham, and away games against Manchester City and Fulham.

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PLAY UP POMPEY

Dindane named in Ivory Coast squad

Portsmouth striker Aruna Dindane was named in the Ivory Coast squad today following his on-form performances for the Blues this month.

Dindane netted a hat-rick against Wigan to open his Premier League account a week ago, with Pompey fans expecting more goals from Didier Drogba's international strike partner.

The striker was taken off in the 58th minute at the weekend, but seems to be fighting fit again and ready to boost Pompey up the table.

In other international news, David James has been left out of the England squad and the two Algerians Hassan Yebda and Nadir Belhadj are both expected to be called up for their final World Cup qualifier against Egypt on Saturday, although Yebda picked up a calf injury during the Blackburn game at the weekend and may cast doubts.

England coach Fabio Capello left Jamo out of his preliminary squad to face Brazil after stating 'He's playing well but his problem is he can't train for two days after each game so it's one problem we have to decide.'

PLAY UP POMPEY

Pompey not completely to blame for losses

Although I know we should be blaming ourselves for the losses and poor results so far this season, but it seems that many good performances have come out of some of the games and I just thought it would be interesting to touch on the some of the events or matches that could've changed our season so far.

Portsmouth 0 Fulham 1 - Only goal of the game comes after Clint Dempsey's shot was severely deflected off Bobby Zamora as it beat David James, sending him the wrong way.



Birmingham City 1 Portsmouth 0 - Penalty that was very debatable as David James goes in for the 50/50 challenge looking at nothing but the ball - Penalty scored in 92nd minute.



Arsenal 4 Portsmouth 1 - William Gallas should've been sent off for a foul on John Utaka, who was through on goal and the last man, and then to make things worse scores a third goal for Arsenal against the back-foot as Portsmouth were fighting back.



Portsmouth 0 Manchester City 1 - With Pompey coming close and pushing for an equaliser against City, David Nugent fires straight at Shay Given when through on goal, should've scored that!



Portsmouth 1 Spurs 2 - Pompey rule all over Spurs and Redknapp, as Defoe sees himself sent off Portsmouth fire 19 shots towards Spurs goal with only 7 in reply from Spurs, Gomes is on form and the Blues are unlucky not to see all three points.



Blackburn Rovers 3 Portsmouth 1

Pompey go 1-0 up at half-time and then concede three goals from three set-pieces in a poor show of defending, although Pascal Chimbonda should've been sent off just before half-time after a scuffle with Jamie O'Hara - might have changed the game.



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PLAY UP POMPEY

Jamie O'Hara hits out

Pompey's influential on-loan midfielder Jamie O'Hara believes Pompey 'shot themselves in the foot' on Saturday after throwing away a 1-0 half-time lead against Blackburn.

The Blues went 1-0 up thanks to O'Hara's brilliance that has been shown all season, and many believe that the player on-loan from Spurs, is key to Pompey's survival fight this season, but Jamie reckons the Fratton Park outfit need to turn things around quickly to win the fight.

O'Hara told the News: 'We started well and got a goal in front – that is what we wanted. And we looked comfortable.

'The fans were getting frustrated and at half-time we just said, "Come on lads, let's just keep it tight". But it didn't happen for us in the second half.

'You come away from home against Blackburn and it is hard enough without shooting yourself in the foot by conceding three goals from set-pieces.

'Okay, they brought on Roberts at half-time and that changed things. The fans got behind them.

'But it was pretty shocking to concede three goals from set-pieces.

'I haven't seen whose mistakes they were, but we have got an experienced team full of players who have played at international level.

'We have got to be able to do better. When you are at the bottom, you have got to be able to do better than that.'

The Blues conceded three goals from three set pieces in the second half, but with a two-week international break, the Blues have a lot to think about for the visit to Stoke City on the 22nd November.

Fixtures 09/10

Sunday, 22 November 2009
Barclays Premier League
Stoke v Portsmouth, 16:00

Saturday, 28 November 2009
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Man Utd, 15:00

Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Carling Cup
Portsmouth v Aston Villa, QF, 19:45

Saturday, 5 December 2009
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Burnley, 12:45

Saturday, 12 December 2009
Barclays Premier League
Sunderland v Portsmouth, 15:00

Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Barclays Premier League
Chelsea v Portsmouth, 19:45

Saturday, 19 December 2009
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Liverpool, 12:45

Saturday, 26 December 2009
Barclays Premier League
West Ham v Portsmouth, 13:00

Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Arsenal, 19:45

Saturday, 9 January 2010
Barclays Premier League
Fulham v Portsmouth, 15:00

Saturday, 16 January 2010
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Birmingham, 15:00

Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v West Ham, 19:45

Sunday, 31 January 2010
Barclays Premier League
Man City v Portsmouth, 13:30

Saturday, 6 February 2010
Barclays Premier League
Man Utd v Portsmouth, 15:00

Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Sunderland, 19:45

Saturday, 20 February 2010
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Stoke, 15:00

Saturday, 27 February 2010
Barclays Premier League
Burnley v Portsmouth, 15:00

Saturday, 6 March 2010
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Chelsea, 15:00

Saturday, 13 March 2010
Barclays Premier League
Liverpool v Portsmouth, 15:00

Saturday, 20 March 2010
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Hull, 15:00

Saturday, 27 March 2010
Barclays Premier League
Tottenham v Portsmouth, 15:00

Saturday, 3 April 2010
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Blackburn, 15:00

Saturday, 10 April 2010
Barclays Premier League
Wigan v Portsmouth, 15:00

Saturday, 17 April 2010
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Aston Villa, 15:00

Saturday, 24 April 2010
Barclays Premier League
Bolton v Portsmouth, 15:00

Saturday, 1 May 2010
Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v Wolverhampton, 15:00

Sunday, 9 May 2010
Barclays Premier League
Everton v Portsmouth, 15:00