Portsmouth gaffer makes the right noises against Fulham - but surely his team have an eye on the cup?

After all, his team looked pretty pretty shabby against Middlesbrough on Saturday, another team who looked like they needed the points more than Pompey. Sky Sports reports that Harry Redknapp is adamant that his team aren’t going to go through the motions against Fulham, alhough exactly how heartening that is for fans of Birmingham and Reading remains to be seen.

Redknapp told Sky Sports: “I will field a full strength side as I owe that to other people in a relegation battle.

“I wouldn’t do that - it is not fair, I wouldn’t want someone to do that to me so I won’t be doing that.

“It will be a tough game against Fulham. I know some people say you have to look after yourself maybe, and if I get injuries they will say I shouldn’t have done it but next week I will be putting out as good a team as I can field.

“They have had a flyer, they have done what we did two years go - everyone wrote us off and everyone wrote Fulham off and now they are right back in the race and it will be a very difficult game again next week but I will make sure we are up for that game - I will make sure of that.”

In a way, fielding a full-strength team may be to Fulham’s advantage anyway. After all, if Redknapp played a bunch of fringe players, they might be more likely to play their socks off in an attempt to get into the reckoning for the Wembley final against Cardiff. Perhaps the first-teamers will be more likely to shun a few tough challenges and make sure they are fit for one of the biggest games of their footballing career.

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