Laws expects battle against Pompey

25 February 2010 11:40
Pompey look set to become the first Premier League team to go into administration on Friday after owner Balram Chainrai said that a new takeover at Fratton Park was unlikely before the end of the week and served notice of his intention to put the club into the hands of insolvency experts.[LNB]Administration will stave off the threat of Portsmouth being wound up, but with the nine-point penalty it carries, it will virtually guarantee their relegation, leaving them bottom of the league on seven points with just 12 games remaining.[LNB]It means Burnley could be facing a team on Saturday whose fate has already been sealed, but Clarets boss Laws - who was part of a Middlesbrough side that nearly went out of business in the mid-1980s - believes the opposition will show plenty of heart at Turf Moor, regardless of their plight.[LNB]"It doesn't matter what happens with the football club - they (Portsmouth's players) are professionals and I expect them to go out there and give everything, whatever the circumstances," Laws said.[LNB]"I have been in that situation myself when I was a young player at Middlesbrough. Very uncomfortable that it was, I think it gelled the team well and everybody stuck together.[LNB]"It hasn't surprised me to see their performances, although the results haven't gone well."[LNB]Laws - who has also endured financial difficulties as a manager, particularly during his time with Sheffield Wednesday - was full of praise for opposite number Avram Grant and the way his squad has continued to battle in desperate circumstances.[LNB]"I know for a fact that when finances are tight, you can't move and you feel like your hands are tied behind your back," Laws said.[LNB]"But sometimes that galvanises you and certainly I can see the spirit is still there within the team.[LNB]"I have every sympathy for him (Grant) and there is nothing he can do about it other than get a team out to perform as well as they possibly can - and that is what he is doing."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk