The Portsmouth dressing room vow as they prepare to respond to Bolton Wanderers knocking them off top spot at Burton Albion

Conor Shaughnessy promised Pompey will stand up to the physical battle they face as they look to respond to the Blackpool setback tomorrow night.

John Mousinho’s side have a quick chance to react to their 27-game unbeaten run being emphatically dismantled by Blackpool on Saturday.

It will be a tough test of their physicality as they go to Burton Albion to face the side Shaughnessy arrived from last summer.

The defender believes his side will show their appetite for a battle after being knocked off top spot by Bolton.

He said: ‘I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to playing there for the first time since leaving.

‘It’ll be a tough game against a good side who will be well set up and organised.

‘I’m excited to get back there and put in a good performance.

‘Speaking to the lads here about coming up against Burton when I was there, they knew they were in a physical battle and what they were getting into.

‘They try to make it their own game of being scrappy and fighting for second balls.

‘The good thing about our group is we can deal with that, we can deal with those games.

‘We can fight in games and also show our quality on the ball.’

Shaughnessy will be making his first return to Burton since departing on a free transfer last summer, after two years and 62 appearances at the Pirelli Stadium.

The impressive defender is ready to offer any support he can in helping his new employers defeat his old ones.

He added:‘I’m very happy to offer insight when I can.So if the staff want to chat with me about anything, I’m happy to give my opinion.

‘But I think our staff do their research and are definitely clever enough to know what they’re doing.’