There's not really any such thing as a must-win league game in January. After all, winning won't secure anything; losing won't mean anything's impossible.

But Pompey really could do with three points at home to high-flying Burton after eight weeks without a victory and a run of results that's seen them sink into League Two's bottom eight.

Blues boss Andy Awford is calling for his players to show the same levels as they did at Luton and Newport County, where a 1-1 draw and 1-0 defeat at least showed positive signs even if they did not yield more than a point.

He told the Pompey website: 'They (Burton) have just gone second in the league after beating Mansfield last weekend and it will be a tough game. When we went up there earlier in the season they let us have a lot of the ball, sat deep and then tried to hit us on the counter-attack.

'They did that very well on the day and took their chances, while we didn’t take ours. But that was a long time ago and both sides have changed a bit since that day — they’ve changed their manager as well.

'I can take heart from the last two displays — if we maintain the same level of performance then we’ll be fine.'

New pair Paul McCallum and Matt Tubbs are set to start up front, with Craig Westcarr and Ryan Taylor having to wait their turn from the bench. Paul Robinson and Joe Devera are favourites to play in the centre of defence, with Andy Barcham likely to be charged with giving the team width.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is likely to name a unchanged line-up from the 2-1 win over Mansfield.

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