SAINTS chairman Rupert Lowe has played down talk of lingering animosity with Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric.

Lowe wanted to clarify that he DID try to contact Mandaric to tell him he would be appointing Harry Redknapp.

Prior to Saturday's 2-1 FA Cup win, Lowe said: "There is certainly no animosity from us towards Pompey.

"Milan had some personal remarks quite widely quoted but I have not wanted to dignify any of the reports with a response.

"We would rather let our football do the talking. However I should probably clarify one issue just so there is no misunderstanding.

"At no time did we speak to Harry Redknapp while he was under contract at Portsmouth. He had already left for his own reasons when we contacted him to see if he would help us out of a short-term difficulty.

"He was a completely free-agent and we feel we behaved entirely properly. It is not right to say I did not even call Milan.

"Out of courtesy I did try to ring him just to let him know what we were doing and I left a message for him."