O'Hara: Nothing to lose
Jamie O'Hara targeted Birmingham double delight and insisted: We've got nothing to lose.
There has been little time for Pompey's FA Cup heroes to bask in the remarkable feat of clinching a semi-final spot.
Within 72 hours they are back in action, this time in the Premier League.
Tonight sees Alex McLeish's side return to the scene of Saturday's emotional 2-0 Pompey triumph.
For Avram Grant's men, the stakes this time around are rather different.
Relegation is surely a formality should the prospective nine-point deduction for entering administration be ratified.
But for the Wembley-bound Blues the Premier League fear factor is no longer there.
With expectations of staying up now long since gone, the pressure is off.
And O'Hara believes that new-found freedom can inspire them to repeat their Burnley success last time out.
He said: 'We've still got to go out and concentrate on the Premier League because that's the week-in, week-out job.
'The FA Cup is a great distraction from that but we'll be back again tonight trying to get another three points.
'It's almost like we've got nothing to lose now.
'We were a bit nervous in the first half of the FA Cup game because we knew it was such a big game, but once we relaxed and enjoyed it a bit more. It worked for us.
'At Burnley, we just went out there and enjoyed it because everyone thought we were down and out. It helped us play well.
'Once the confidence starts flowing through the team, it's hard for other teams to deal with us.
'We can pass, we can move, we can create chances out of nothing.
'We've got a side that can do well, it's just a case of having that confidence.
'The aim from the boys is to pretend that we haven't got the nine-point deduction coming.
'Even if we go down relegated because of losing the nine points, we can still say that we have had a decent season because we will have gone to Wembley and we would have stayed up.
'If it happens, then it's something we just have to accept, but everyone wants to do well for this club.'
O'Hara is hoping to retain his place in Pompey's midfield tonight.
However, a back problem is still giving him concern.
The complaint ruled him out of the majority of training last week.
Yet there was no chance he would miss the opportunity to inspire the Blues to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.
It says it all about the fighting spirit within Grant's squad and that determination to battle for the cause.
O'Hara added: 'The win in the FA Cup shows there is a great spirit within the team and with the fans.
'I got through it in the end. The back was a bit stiff and I hadn't been able to do much training last week.
'Once I'd got it warmed up, I felt great in the second half.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
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