The two form teams in Division One go head to head tomorrow when leaders Portsmouth travel to Burnley.

And Pompey's current Player of the Month, defender Linvoy Primus, has warned his colleagues to expect a real battle at Turf Moor.

"Burnley are going to be a real test of character for us - it will be real muck and bullets stuff up there.

"We're not going to win all our games, as last week showed. We've got a four-point gap but we can't afford to slip up and drop points too often."

With his loan deal completed yesterday, Aston Villa's 31-year old Steve Stone will be the only addition to the squad which fought out an entertaining draw with Coventry last Saturday.

Jason Crowe, Richard Hughes and Hayden Foxe are all close to a return, but the postponement of the midweek reserve fixture meant that they did not get necessary match practice.

The expected large contingent of fans from the south coast will await to hear manager Harry Redknapp's team selection and formation with some interest.

Former England midfielder Stone could be poised to take the right wing-back role from Kevin Harper.

Pompey have lost just once on their travels this season - narrowly at Norwich - and will be looking for their fifth away win against a Clarets side who are in a real purple patch after a poor start to the season.

In fact, manager Stan Ternent looked like an early candidate for the chop following defeats at home to Brighton and Sheffield United and away at Wolves and Reading.

But Burnley have not lost since and are unbeaten in twelve games, moving rapidly up the table following a hugely impressive win at Leicester last weekend and a creditable draw at Ipswich in midweek.

In their first season in the division following their promotion in 2001, the Clarets were agonisingly pipped at the post for a play-off spot.

This time around they are relying on the same squad.

Frenchaman Arthur Gnohere, who was on trial at Pompey at the start of last season, has been impressive in defence. Up front, Greek Dimitrios Papadopoulos has been the star men to date.

Former Saint Steve Davis has caught the eye in recent weeks with some busy performances in midfield.

Tests of Pompey's promotion credentials are coming thick and fast now, with Preston and Leicester lined up for next week.

But the challenge facing the Blues at Turf Moor looks really formidable.

Pompey (from): Shaka Hislop, Linvoy Primus, Arjan De Zeeuw, Gianluca Festa, Matthew Taylor, Lassina Diabate, Nigel Quashie, Gary O'Neil, Paul Merson, Svetoslav Todorov, Vincent Pericard, Kevin Harper, Steve Stone, Mark Burchill, Carl Robinson, Yoshi Kawaguchi.