FA Cup glory revisited: Adams - Pompey have no need to fear United

The Blues secured only their second FA Cup success when they beat Cardiff at Wembley on May, 17, 2008 thanks to Kanu's solitary strike.

But before they got to the final, Harry Redknapp's side had to negotiate probably the toughest hurdle imaginable at the time - Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in the quarter-finals.

The Red Devils were well placed to secure a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble that season.

And with players of the calibre of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand, plus others, there was no reason to suggest Pompey would stand in their way.

Yet they did, with Sulley Muntari's second-half penalty proving the winner at a shocked Old Trafford.

To celebrate the Blues' success that year, The News has been delving back into the archives to relive that magic moment in Pompey's history.

And today we bring you some of the build up to that clash with United on March 8, 2008, with Blues assistant manager at the time, Tony Adams, admitting Pompey had nothing to fear from Ferguson's side.

Previewing the match in The News, Adams said: ‘Our starting XI is probably as good as anybody in the league.

‘And for a one-off game like this, who knows?

‘On our day we’ve gone to some tough places.

‘We’ve gone to the likes of Villa away, and we’ve had six away victories – something which is unheard off at Portsmouth.

‘So there’s nothing stopping us.

‘With the XI we’ve got, which is a very good XI, we’re right up there with the clean sheets and the stats.

‘I think we’re fourth best in the league, which is better than Arsenal, so maybe Arsene should give us a call.

‘There’s nothing stopping us.

‘Those XI on their day can do a job for us I’m sure.’

The last time Pompey travelled to Old Trafford prior to the last-eight clash was in the January of that year.

That day, the Blues suffered a 2-0 defeat, following a Ronaldo double.

The defeat stayed fresh in the memory, but Adams believed Pompey would take heart from Barnsley’s exploits in that year’s competition.

He added: ‘You couldn’t have foreseen Barnsley going to Liverpool and turning them over.

‘And if Barnsley were in the Premier League they’d probably be in Derby’s situation or below.

‘I think that’s the beauty of a cup competition – you never know.

‘I remember when we (Arsenal) went to Wrexham and got knocked out of the third round and then the next year we went and won it.

‘The year before the Wrexham defeat we got to a semi-final, so you never know if it’s your year or if it’s not your year.

‘You just go out there, you play your game, you try to be tough to beat and know your basic stuff – that’s what you’ve got to do.

‘You go back to the fundamentals of playing football.

‘Simplistically, it’s about stopping them scoring, being resilient, being tough to beat and then maybe get one up the other end and then you’re in the next round.’