Harry Redknapp is bracing himself to be without both Lassana Diarra and Richard Hughes for the trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Sean Davis is struggling after suffering a back twinge in training on Tuesday.

It means Papa Bouba Diop will definitely start in his favoured position in the centre of the park, leaving a vacancy on the right.

Utaka himself has been troubled by a hamstring problem for the past fortnight, but today returned to training.

He will now compete with Glen Little for a place on the right – providing Redk-napp opts for a 4-4-2 system.

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And the fit-again Nigerian is convinced he is in the right shape to make a difference.

He said: 'There was a small tear in my hamstring which happened in training, but it's fine now.

'I have worked hard, training twice a day, and I am now ready to play again.

'Of course, whether I am in the team depends on the system the coach wants to play.

'At the end of the day he knows what he wants to do and the way he wants to do it.

'I have been involved a lot this season, often as substitute, but the season is long, there will be other opportunities for me and I still enjoy every game.

'I have no regrets whatsoever playing football.

'The most important thing is I want to do well, I want to be successful and I want to try as hard as I can. Hopefully, I can play against Aston Villa and show that.'

Utaka lined up in Pompey's last visit to Villa Park 10 months ago – a memorable 3-1 triumph.

After a Craig Gardner own goal gave the visitors an early lead, Sulley Muntari took over.

The Ghana midfielder bagged two crackers in arguably his greatest performance during his Fratton Park career.

And Utaka regards that team display as one of the finest the Blues have conjured up on their travels during his time at the club.

He added: 'It was a great result. Sulley scored twice and it was beautiful.

'That was one of our best away performances last year – that and Newcastle.

'There are days like that when the opposition can't do anything. They try to come back and then concede a second one.

'That can happen in football. For example, we lost 6-0 at Manchester City and then we came back with some good wins.

'It's sometimes a bit bizarre.'

n The kick-off time for Pompey's home game against Fulham on Sunday, October 26, has been put back to 5pm.

The match was scheduled to start at 4pm, but has been cha-nged following a request from Ports-mouth City Council.

The Great South Run is due to take place earlier on the same day.