Douglas to struggle on
Brentford skipper Jonathan Douglas is set to keep playing through the pain barrier against Portsmouth.
The midfielder has been carrying a knock for the last couple of weeks but came through the full 90 minutes of Wednesday night's 2-0 win at Crewe, which moved the Bees up to third.
Defender Scott Barron is still recovering from a hip operation and is out for the season along with back-up goalkeeper Richard Lee, who has had shoulder surgery.
But club captain Kevin O'Connor (ankle) and striker Farid El Alagui (knee) were on the bench at Gresty Road following lengthy injury lay-offs and will be hoping for their first action this year.
Midfielder Harry Forrester could return to the squad after dropping out in midweek.
Patrick Agyemang returns to the Portsmouth squad for the trip.
Guy Whittingham's side will have a spring in their step after Wednesday's news that the Pompey Supporters' Trust can complete its rescue of the stricken club.
And Whittingham's attacking options will be boosted by the availability of Agyemang, who missed the goalless draw with Stevenage last weekend because he is on loan from Boro.
John Akinde is set to drop to the bench with Agyemang partnering David Connolly up front.
That is likely to be the only change to the starting line-up as caretaker boss Whittingham has no new injury concerns after defender Ricardo Rocha shrugged off a hip knock to play the full 90 minutes against Boro.
Source: PA
