Pompey head for their first away league game of the season this weekend - at Crewe - knowing it will be a very different test to the one that no-strikers Carlisle posed last week.

Defender Christian Burgess admitted last Saturday's 1-1 draw was a strange affair - and he expects the defence to have a much busier time at Gresty Road.

He told the club website: 'We watched the Carlisle game back and saw that we created some great chances — their keeper played a blinder. They didn’t play with a striker after going down to men, which I suppose is understandable.

'It was very strange and they weren’t even challenging from their goal-kicks, so we were able to bring the ball down and feed the other guys. It was a weird one to be involved with, but we obviously had to keep our concentration in case they hit us on the break.

'Now we’ve got Crewe and it will be a good test for us. They’ve just come down from League One and will be looking to impress. But we’ve been preparing well and are looking forward to the challenge — hopefully we can get that first win under our belt.'

Paul Cook is set to go unchanged from the line-up who started the Carlisle game last Saturday.

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