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Portsmouth goalkeeper David James looks set to overcome a knee injury and take his place against former club Manchester City on Sunday.

James trained on Friday and manager Paul Hart is confident he will be fit, while new recruits Tommy Smith and Michael Brown could make their debuts after joining from Watford and Wigan respectively. However, Paul Hart's squad has been weakened by the sale of Sylvain Distin to Everton.

The game comes too soon for Hermann Hreidarsson, who is still suffering with hamstring trouble and Steve Finnan and Papa Bouba Diop both face another two weeks out with a similar injury.

Mark Hughes reports no fresh injury concerns as Manchester City look to maintain their 100% start to the season.

Hughes named a strong line-up for Thursday night's Carling Cup win at Crystal Palace and could keep the same side.

Craig Bellamy and Nigel de Jong would both hope for a chance to shine, although they may have to be content with a place on the bench.

Teams:

Portsmouth (from): James, Kaboul, Mokoena, Mullins, Nugent, Utaka, Kranjcar, Kanu, Ashdown, Hughes, Begovic, Basinas, Belhadj, Vanden Borre, Piquionne, Smith, Niemi.

Man City (from): Given, Taylor, Richards, Zabaleta, Toure, Lescott, Onuoha, Bridge, Barry, De Jong, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Robinho, Weiss, Petrov, Tevez, Adebayor, Bellamy.