Pamarot's primed for foreign mission
He's emerged as Pompey's away-day specialist, now Noe Pamarot is poised for another outing on foreign turf as Harry Redknapp plugs his side's defensive frailties.
The versatile Frenchman is being lined up to start a third-successive away match in Braga tomorrow.
Two of Pamarot's three starts so far this season have come on the road.
The other was in a Fratton Park Carling Cup tie with Chelsea.
He came in from the cold earlier this month to feature at Vitoria Guimaraes as part of a back three to help Pompey clinch a passage into the UEFA Cup group stages.
The 29-year-old was also surprisingly given the nod ahead of Nadir Belhadj to play at left-back against Aston Villa on Saturday.
That Villa Park performance, in which he silenced 12m-man James Milner in particular, had Redknapp purring.
Now the Blues boss is drawing up his game plan to conquer Braga.
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He may opt to restore on-loan Belhadj at left-back, where he has swiftly established himself as a fans' favourite, or revert Armand Traore back there.
But ultimately it's Pamarot again who has emerged as a key figure in his defensive equations.
Redknapp said: 'It was a terrific point away from home at Villa on Saturday.
'Only very late on did they start to put a bit of pressure on.
'In the first half especially we were very comfortable.
'I brought Noe back in at left-back because defensively he makes us stronger and that's just what he did.
'I just felt that playing the two little lads on the left away from home can be a problem sometimes.
'We thought James Milner would play and Noe did a terrific job against him.
'It gave us a bit more strength and power in the air.
'The two loan lads together at home have been terrific but sometimes I think you have got to make sure you are hard to beat.
'Last year the 4-5-1 system was very successful.
'Now I am going with two strikers and it has gone and made us more open.
'We have got to be careful with that, really.
'Away from home we have got to be strong.
'Whatever else we do, we have got to stay in the game – and that's why I brought Noe in.
'We cannot be too cavalier and that game at Manchester City showed that.
'You've got to pick a team that's hard to beat first and go from there.
'Noe will be in my thoughts again, for sure.'
The emergence of Pamarot as a left-back alternative reflects the crucial part he continues to play in Redknapp's squad.
Since his arrival on the south coast from Spurs back in January 2006, he has gone on to make 58 appearances across the back four.
Now he has inched ahead of Hermann Hreidarsson – a regular last season – in a battle with Belhadj and Traore for the left-back berth.
Redknapp added: 'Noe does a tremendous job for us, you can always rely on him.
'Nadir has been great but we have to look at it game by game and see who the opposition are. Some games we won't be able to play him there.
'Armand is only 19 years of age. He hasn't played this amount of games before.
'At Arsenal he was in and out of the side – he's not used to regular football.
'When we took him on loan there was no instruction that we had to play him every game.
'We've just got to look at the situation match by match.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 23 C
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