Kranjcar ready to be let loose in Europe
Niko Kranjcar is raring for the shackles to be removed and finally be unleashed on Europe.
The Croatian has declared himself fully fit and is eyeing a start at Wolfsburg on Thursday.
Kranjcar returned from his latest injury setback as a second-half substitute against Blackburn at the weekend.
He weighed in with an assist for Jermain Defoe in the dramatic 3-2 triumph for Tony Adams' side.
Injury has so far prevented him appearing in Pompey's Uefa Cup campaign this season.
Now the fit-again midfielder is pushing for a starting spot as he looks to take Europe by storm and edge Pompey closer to the last 32 of the competition.
He said: 'Against Sunderland I got a knock on the same ankle that was operated on. It was pretty big bone bruising.
'I didn't even feel my ankle was right enough to be on the bench last week against Milan.
'I told that to the gaffer and said once I am fit I am going to be able to give everything on the pitch. Now I feel I can do that.
'It felt great last Friday and I knew I was ready to take part against Blackburn. Happily for me I came on as a substitute and we got the win.
'I felt fine afterwards and hopefully I can start the next game against Wolfsburg.
'We know they have a 100-per-cent record, but we go there with a team of real quality players.
'We are definitely a team with enough about us to go away and get a win in Europe.
'Obviously, I was very unhappy at not being able to feature against Milan, but I am young enough to hopefully have many more nights like that.
'Europe is why I joined this football club and it would mean a lot to me to feature on Thursday.'
Kranjcar had already appeared in the Uefa Cup and Champions League with previous clubs Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb.
But following his England arrival in August 2006, he knew he could do the same with Pompey.
He added: 'People like David James, Kanu and Sol Campbell arrived at the same time and sent a message out that this football club wanted to go places, that it wanted to go towards the European tournament.
'We knew we had the quality and the coaching staff to come into Europe – that's why I joined.
'If I didn't know that Sol was here or David or Kanu, I probably wouldn't have come. But when you see those big players are here that makes all the difference.
'I think it's not only me. Lots of players came because they knew it was going to be a big challenge to play in Europe and do well in the Premier League.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
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