Midfielder Barry Ferguson captains Blues at Fratton Park and there's an eagerly awaited full debut for Spanish midfielder Michel as the visitors look to turn the table on Portsmouth after a 2-0 FA Cup exit at the same venue 72 hours earlier.

Usual skipper Stephen Carr is out with a niggling injury and Lee Bowyer is rested and doesn't make the matchday 18, meaning the start for Michel (pictured).

Manager Alex McLeish had pledged to make changes and James McFadden and Seb Larsson drop down to the bench, giving Chucho and Craig Gardner the chance to start on the South Coast.

Finnish midfielder Teemu Tainio and 18-year-old striker Jake Jervis are named as subs also.

Pompey make one change from the side that won on Saturday, with Blues transfer window target Aruna Dindane coming in as a straight swap for John Utaka.

Portsmouth: David James, Jamie O'Hara, Hermann Hreidarsson, Frederic Piquionne, Michael Brown, Steve Finnan, Danny Webber, Aruna Dindane, Tal Ben Haim, Marc Wilson, Nadir Belhadj. Subs: Jamie Ashdown, Aaron Mokoena, Hayden Mullins, Papa Bouba Diop, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Kanu, Angelos Basinas.

Blues: Joe Hart, Stuart Parnaby, Roger Johnson, Scott Dann, Liam Ridgewell, Craig Gardner, Michel, Barry Ferguson, Keith Fahey, Chucho, Cameron Jerome. Subs: Maik Taylor, David Murphy, James McFadden, Teemu Tainio, Jake Jervis, Seb Larsson, Franck Queudrue.

Referee: Mike Jones