Jordan: Portsmouth players should relish Man Utd test

Portsmouth coach Joe Jordan has dismissed concerns over their looming fixture against Manchester United.

After coming off a hiding at Chelsea, Jordan insists Pompey should look forward with relish their date with the champions.

"You're in the Premier League to play sides like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool," he exclaimed on Pompey's website. "They're the biggest games and you've earned the right to play in them.

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"It's the big game of the weekend against the Champions League winners and the Premier League winners.

"That's why big players come to Pompey. They want to play in the Premier League against Manchester United.

"It's a hard start but we had a hard start last year. It threw the top teams at us but you've got to play them at some point. If you're not playing those sides then you're not in the Premier League.

"When you look at your fixture list you want to see the top clubs. No disrespect to sides in the Championship but you'd rather be playing at Old Trafford or against the top clubs at Fratton Park. I think that's obvious.

"That's not just for the players but for the supporters as well. Why would you want it any other way?

"We can learn from the games we played against United in pre-season but football is unpredictable. That's what makes it such a great game.

"They'll assess what happened in their last game and we'll do the same. But players change and teams change from one fixture to another."