Carlisle boss Keith Curle has told Pompey's travelling army: You won't outshout our supporters.

The Blues will have more than 1,000 backing them as they try to get back to League Two winning ways against the Cumbrians.

Curle told his club's website: “Our fans don’t get out-shouted here at Brunton Park. Even if Portsmouth bring over a thousand very vocal fans I know they won’t out-shout us.

“I think back to when we were two down to Yeovil in the last home game. They didn’t turn us. They got behind us and we ended up lifting our performance and winning the game. It’s good to know you have that level of support behind you.”

Curle says well-supported Pompey have strengths - but they have weaknesses too. And his team have been working on both aspects in the run-up to the game.

He went on: 'Portsmouth are a good side, there’s no doubt about that. When you get home crowds in excess of 16,000 it brings with it the finances to secure signings who should be good enough to get you out of the division. With that comes the expectation from the fans. They’re at the right end of the table and that suggests they’re handling that.

'They have good players and they need to be stopped from playing their game. However, they’re a League Two side and they have weaknesses. A lot of our focus this week has been on identifying their strengths and weaknesses so that we can implement our style of play.

'It’s the process we go through every week and that hasn’t changed from the day we walked into the club. We know we have players who can give Portsmouth problems to deal with if we do the things we’ve talked about and practiced. Everything we do is to try to help us to get three points.'

Paul Cook, meanwhile, is keeping his cards close to his chest regarding who and how many he will field up front.

He told The News: 'Will we go with two up front again — we’ll have to wait and see won’t we? The game last week doesn’t make me think I shouldn’t have done that.

‘I have to give McNulty and Lavery minutes and Kyle Bennett has gone through a little rough patch at home. For the personnel we had available, I felt it was best. But it’s all part of a learning curve.

‘Putting square pegs in square holes is the right thing to do. I make those decisions because I believe it’s right. I’m not trying to tell supporters “that’s the way it is and that’s that”. In football, you can solve one problem but it creates another one.’

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