Speaking to the CT, Cranie who hopes to play against his former club today said: "I would love to see Portsmouth do well this seson. "It's sad to see what's happened there because a couple of seasons ago, they could have been pushing for Europe in the Premier League with the players they had.
"With the financial difficulties, they've had and the players they have let go, they have found themselves in the Championship now and are probably going to lose more players. But they will still be a strong team and we are still expecting a tough game but we will be ready for them.
"We have to concentrate on our game and make sure our shape is good as it was against West Brom when we confined them to playing diagonal balls over the top rather than let them play through us.
"If we can frustrate Portsmouth and play to our strengths, we can get off to a good start."
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