Reading captain Graeme Murty expects Portsmouth to give their all to beat Fulham on Saturday.
Royals skipper confident of professional display
Graeme Murty remains convinced Portsmouth will give their all against Fulham, despite the FA Cup final that looms large on the horizon for Harry Redknapp's side.
Reading's captain is well aware his club need favours from elsewhere if they are to retain their top flight status following Saturday's defeat to Tottenham.
A failure to score in nine hours of football will worry the Reading faithful, as will the fact Portsmouth have a date at Wembley to factor into their plans for the Fulham game.
Reading must beat Derby at Pride Park to stand any chance of staying up while other results also have to go their way.
Nevertheless, Royals skipper Murty firmly believes Pompey will give it a real go at Fratton Park on Sunday, and has been buoyed by the response he has received from some of their players.
Positive attitude
"The answers coming back have been positive, because they need to perform this Sunday to book a place in the FA Cup final team," Murty told
Radio Berkshire.
"You don't play Manchester United in the Championship. You don't play in front of 78,000 people, you go to Plymouth. Home Park's a lovely stadium, but it ain't Old Trafford," he observed.
"When you pressure people in the Championship, they kick it out for a throw-in. Rio Ferdinand drops a bit of skill on the centre-forward, turns round and pings a 70-yard diagonal to [Cristiano] Ronaldo.
"That's the difference. Those are the things you have to cope with and the things you have to elevate your game to."
Premier passions
Murty added: "People say, 'oh well, back to the Championship and real football'. I have never, ever subscribed to that point of view and never will.
"This is where we want to be and we'll be doing our best to stay because it was a horrible, hard journey to get here.
"This might be the last chance for some players to be in the Premier League and we have to scrap like hell to make sure we stay there."
