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Pompey duo doubtful for Black Cats clash Portsmouth could be without Kevin-Prince Boateng and Anthony Vanden Borre for their Barclays Premier League clash with Sunderland at Fratton Park.

Vanden Borre limped off during the second half of Pompey's 5-0 defeat against Manchester United on Saturday and his replacement, Boateng, was also unable to complete the match after suffering an ankle injury.

Steve Finnan could replace Vanden Borre at right-back if he is ruled out. John Utaka (hamstring) may return but Papa Bouba Diop is still sidelined.

Boss Avram Grant again hit out at the Premier League for failing to lift the club's transfer embargo earlier.

"We have what we have and they are trying their best," he added. "We were waiting for January and we wanted players that know how to score goals but the Premier League decided not to lift the embargo until three days before (the end of the window) and only for loan players.

"I keep saying that the Premier League didn't take responsibility for the situation.

"We were waiting for January and we didn't have a lot of money but we had players on our list that could improve the team, but the Premier League didn't allow us to do that.

"We're trying our best and I'm sure we will score goals before the end of the season and it will be enough." Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson will be sidelined for a minimum of four weeks as manager Steve Bruce waits to discover the extent of his ankle injury.

The teenager, who was carried off during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Wigan, the trip as he prepares to undergo a scan on Thursday.

Bruce will also be without John Mensah (hamstring), Kieran Richardson (calf) and Anton Ferdinand (ankle) at Fratton Park as the Black Cats attempt to end a run of 11 league games without a win.

Bruce is confident he will be a better manager for the experience of guiding Sunderland through their current crisis.

The 49-year-old saw his side booed off at half-time at the Stadium of Light on Saturday as the home fans vented their frustration at a run of 11 Barclays Premier League games without a victory.

They now head for bottom side Portsmouth knowing an extension of that sequence could see the four-point advantage they enjoy over the bottom three evaporate and plunge them deep into trouble.

However, Bruce is doing what he has done for much of his managerial career to date, rolling up his sleeves and preparing to drag his side out of the mire.

He said: "When you come through it, it makes you better because you learn from it. Nobody likes it, nobody enjoys it, you would be lying if you said you enjoyed it. But certainly you learn from it and you take it on with you.

"I have worked hard all my life and I will try to work as hard as I can to pull us around. I am the same one who came in six months ago, nothing has changed in that respect. There's no hiding place from it, we have just got to get a result, it's as simple as that." Bruce admitted after Saturday's game his players had been nervous and edgy in front of their own fans and is hoping the trip to Fratton Park might come as a welcome change.

He said: "I have seen big players fall, I have seen big players not be able to handle it.

"The one thing I have learned here is our recruitment has to be based on big players who can handle an expectant crowd.

Portsmouth vs Sunderland

Last modified 23:25 09/02/10

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Chaos off the pitch, absolute bedlam on it.

If this is to be Portsmouth’s last-ever match then they certainly went out with a bang.

A rare show of aggression from Avram Grant and three players sent off - one amid an outrageous case of mistaken identity - was only the tip of the iceberg in this incredible game.

Indeed proceedings threatened to descend into farce as Friend as referee Kevin Friend - in his first season as a Premier League official - totally lost control.

But Pompey warmed up for a fight against being wound up in the High Court today by rolling up their sleeves right up until the last minute of second half injury time, when Aruna Dindane grabbed an equaliser that brought the house down.

The drama began in the 11th minute when Darren Bent raced clear and looked set to draw first blood for Sunderland in the Battle of the Crisis Clubs.

He then appeared to be clipped from behind by Portuguese defender Ricardo Rocha and went down.

Dozy Friend, however, had his mind elsewhere because although everyone else inside Fratton Park could see that Rocha had been the last man, the referee took an age to work it out.

The terribly confused Leicestershire official even had to consult his assistant, who had also been half-asleep and didn’t have a clue.

So Friend simply took a punt and sent off midfielder Hassan Yebda.

The home fans thundered: “You Don’t Know What You’re Doing!” - and they were absolutely right.

Yebda, meanwhile was still angrily protesting his innocence, quite rightly. But the Algerian was being pushed off the pitch and urged not to get himself into even deeper ‘trouble’ by his keeper and David James.

It was only when Yebda accepted his protests were in vain and walked towards the touchline that Rocha stepped out from behind a crowd of players and put his hands up to being the culprit.

Bent then hammered home the spot-kick for his 16th goal of the season. Priceless.

But then it has been that kind of pantomime season in this part of the south coast.

Pompey, remember, are the team that conceded three own goals at Manchester United last Saturday.

The team that have been bottom since the second weekend of the season. The team with just one point and two League goals from their last six matches.

Yet if they thought they would get a morale-boosting first win in seven against a Sunderland side that have taken just five points from their last 33, they were sorely mistaken.

Because when Aruna Dindane created space for a shot for himself on 22 minutes, Black Cats keeper Craig Gordon was more than equal to it.

When Jamie O’Hara connected for a vicious left-foot drive from just outside the Sunderland box on 32 minutes, he just failed to get it on target.

And when the O’Hara - on loan from Spurs - raced clear to try and make amends a minute later, he crashed into Dindane who came haring into his path for reasons best known to himself.

Papa Bouba Diop drove an effort into the Sunderland side netting seven minutes before half time and, yet, again, Pompey were failing to find that decisive touch in front of goal.

On the stroke of half-time, however, it looked as though Pompey were finally going to get at least something go their way when Sunderland defender Matty Kilgallon pulled Dindane down in the visitors’ box.

Friend, however, waved the appeal away to the fury of Fratton Park.

It proved a setback too many for the normally mild-mannered Grant, who stormed onto the pitch and up to the referee with such ferocity that it looked for all the world as if the Israeli was going to chin him.

Thankfully Grant restrained himself enough to simply give the whistler the hairdryer, before turning his back and walking away without waiting for a reply.

But the confrontation still landed him with a red card which meant he had to watch the remainder of the match from the stands.

And a pulsating contest became even more gripping in the second period. Fratton Park was baying for Friend’s blood when he dismissed a penalty appeal for Michael Turner’s challenge on Freddie Picquionne on 54 minutes.

Friend then alienate the support of both clubs when he made it 10-against-10 by dismissing Cattermole for a challenge on Angelos Basinas, six minutes after the midfielder had received a first yellow card of the match.

And Portsmouth seized the initiative to pile the pressure back on Sunderland but were again left furious when Friend ruled out yet another penalty - this time for George McCartney’s foul on Piquionne.

Sunderland themselves blew a stack of chances to put the game out of sight. On 66 minutes England keeper worried Bent out of a one-on-one.

From the resulting corner Matthew Kilgallon then struck the inside of the post with a volley from the edge of the penalty area.

And Kenwyne Jones narrowly failed to get a toe onto a fizzing ball across the six-yard box from Bent with the goal gaping.

Rookie midfielder David Meyler then undid all of his side’s good work when he was sent off - just two minutes after coming on - for a clash with Steve Finnan.

That was the inspiration that Pompey needed for one final push.

And in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Dindane met O'Hara's deep cross to headed home. Cue pandemonium. There is life in this south coast side yet.