Stevenage will be without the suspended David Bridges, while Jon Ashton is out with a hip problem.

Robbie Sinclair is pushing for a start, with Yemi Odubade and Chris Beardsley among those also in contention.

Portsmouth have a threadbare squad to choose from and will need to assess midfielder Hayden Mullins, who has been nursing a knee problem.

Danny Webber, Tom Kilbey , Hermann Hreidarsson (Achilles) and Billy Goddard (shin) are all out.

Jamie Ashdown
Aaron Mokoena
Ibrahima Sonko
Marc Wilson
Hayden Mullins
Richard Hughes
Matt Ritchie
Michael Brown
Tommy Smith
David Nugent
John Utaka

Substitutes

Liam O'Brien
Peter Gregory
Marlon Pack
Nadir Ciftci

All these players should play tonight (Mullins doubtful) because they simply don't have any other players
On paper they shouldn't have any problems with Stevenage (they played last season in conference) but it's not a secret that players with big wages like Utaka, Mokoena etc. will likely leave club soon so their motivation is unclear tonight.

Stevenage just played their first game in history in football league (2-2 vs. Macclesfield on Saturday) and today's game is another big one for them. Their manager will surely name best squad as the game will be televised, besides Pompey's problems aren't a secret and they'll try to exploit it on their favor.

Picking a winner here may be tricky as Stevenage will surely show more determination tonight in front of tv cameras and full-packed stadium than Pompey, who at the moment got more important things to take care of than playing in League Cup against team from League 2. But if we'd compare only football skills, then Portsmouth is much, much more better team.

ok, on paper pompey are a better team but as the saying goes ... the match isnt played on paper! recently, pompey have been a cup team (recent fa cup winners and final last year). I think pompey must try and concentrate on their league form. In terms of League Cup form, pompey have only recently played one league two side away, that was Mansfield in 2006/7 and won 2-1. of course the teams and circumstances are different here.

so tonight I expect a draw or small victory to pompey. maybe 1-0 to pompey with nugent scoring (he likes cup competitions). it all depends on the mentality of the pompey team. steve coterill was asked in an interview if he thought the attackers could have done better against the centre halves of coventry and he couldnt answer (literally, silence for about 15 seconds with lots of erms... hardly encouraging). one downside to pompey right now is John Utaka... who the club HAVE to play due to his salary and no one else to take his place. he is lazy and uninterested and this is a great hinderence to the team right now.

also... beware of the live Sky Sports disease. pompey are simply awful in front of the Sky cameras so I dont expect a thumping. Stevenage will be boosted by this.

Odds kind of reflect this but its surprising that pompey are 2.30 to win in normal time considering its a championship side vs a league two side. If you want value then you cant really escape that temptation.

I take Pompey 1x2 @2.30 Bet365 6/10

Думаю пока

P.S.
Я вот не знаю на этой стадии кубка 1 матч играется, или два?!...

1-1

NANTES : Kamenar - Martins-Pereira, Djilobodji, Pierre, Tixier - Ism. Keita, Bruno Cheyrou (cap.), Bekamenga - Benzerga - Djordjevic, Lee Yong-jae
LE MANS : Ovono (cap.) - Cuffaut, Adenon, Cerdan, Baal - El-Bahri, F. Thomas, Louvion, M. Dossevi - F. Cissé, Helstad

Martins-Pereira, Djilobodji, Tixier, Bruno Cheyrou усилили Нант в межсезонье

Ле-ман сохранил с прошлого сезона Louvion, Dossevi, Bouhours, Loriot, Helstad