Avram Grant set to make changes to Portsmouth line-up

Portsmouth manager Avram Grant is set to make changes to his team, for tonight’s vital Premier League match with Sunderland.

Struggling Pompey desperately need to start picking up points, and they won’t have many more opportunities than tonight, when they host a Sunderland side who are woefully out of form.

Portsmouth, however, lost 5-0 at the weekend to Manchester United, and manager Grant admitted that he needs to freshen up his side, saying:

"I thought we needed to keep some players fresh because we've played a lot of games recently.

"We changed the team and it will be different again on Tuesday."

Portsmouth will be without long-term casualty Papa Bouba Diop, who will be joined on the sidelines by Anthony Vande Borre and Kevin-Prince Boateng, who both limped out of Saturday’s defeat to United.

That pair are expected to be replaced by Steve Finnan and John Utaka, as Pompey search for a winning formula.

Grant added:

"There are 14 games to go and we need to take as many points as possible from our next few games. Our upcoming games are against sides who are around us in the table.

"We are not playing worse than the sides in mid-table but they're taking points and we're not. We need to continue with the good performances but also add some points."

Portsmouth are 16/11 with Expekt to beat Sunderland, who can be backed at 11/5 (Totesport) to leave Fratton Park with all three points.