Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell admits he will have to call on all his experience if he is to prevent Albion striker Kevin Phillips from wrecking Portsmouth’s FA Cup dream in today’s semi-final at Wembley.
The battle between Campbell, 33, and fellow veteran Phillips, 34, could be one of the key clashes in this afternoon’s semi-final.
And former Tottenham, Arsenal and England defender Campbell is anticipating a busy afternoon.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re really on the ball and also respect who we are playing against,” Campbell said.
“You can’t really underestimate West Brom and these other teams because they’ve knocked out a few clubs, top clubs, already.
“We’ve played three other Championship sides (in this season’s competition) and in a way it was good practice because they ran us to the wire and gave us an idea of what we can expect.
“Now we’ve got to be careful not to give Kevin Phillips too much space because he’s a quality centre-forward, and when he gets a chance he’s going to try to put it away.
“We’ve got to make sure we marshal him and make sure we’re aware.
“And besides him they’ve got a few experienced players, and obviously some of them have played in the Premier League and they’ll be up for it.”
Pompey struggled to overcome Ipswich’s 10 men in the third round, trailed Plymouth at home in the fourth before Niko Kranjcar’s winner and required a stoppage-time own goal to see off Preston at Deepdale in the last 16.
A 1-0 defeat of Manchester United at Old Trafford helped to eradicate memories of those battles and Pompey will kick off as favourites to advance to next month’s final.
But manager Harry Redknapp shares Campbell’s apprehension about the threat posed by Phillips, who won eight England caps earlier in his career and has enjoyed a revival this season.
Redknapp worked briefly with the former Sunderland forward at Southampton three seasons ago and admits he is an admirer.
“Kevin only had 18 or 19 games for me there but he’s a proper striker who knows what to do,” Redknapp said.
“West Brom are a very good side. They are favourites to go back up to the Premier League and nearly did it last year.
“If they had been in the top division then I’m sure they wouldn’t have come down.
“They play good football and score a lot of goals – well into double figures in the cup run already.
“We’re confident but it is no easy semi-final for us. I’ve never heard of an easy one.”
Redknapp has fitness doubts over defender Hermann Hreidarsson (Achilles) and winger John Utaka (hamstring) and must do without the free-scoring Jermain Defoe, who is ineligible having played for former club Tottenham earlier in the competition.
See Also:
Share this article:
What are these?