Flight chaos will not disrupt Adams plans for Portsmouth

Published on Thursday 4 December 2008 00:31

AFTER his team's plans were thrown into disarray by the financial collapse of their air carrier yesterday morning, Portsmouth manager Tony Adams insists his team can stay afloat in the Uefa Cup tonight.

Flightline, the company due to fly the Portsmouth squad out to Germany ahead of their clash with Wolfsburg, went into administration and laid off more than 200 staff. However, a replacement company was found at the 11th hour to make sure that, at the very least, the club would be able to fulfil their daunting engagement.

"There are plenty of aircrafts out there, it was really simple and it's been smooth, there have been no complications whatsoever," Adams said. "While it might seem like a big deal, the players and myself have not been affected one bit."

The Portsmouth manager added: "We prepared this morning, I changed that from the usual preparation because I noticed Arsenal had done it through their Champions League campaign. It's simple for me to prepare back at base. So I prepared as if it was Arsenal, Manchester United, Hull or a Uefa Cup game."

Portsmouth head into tonight's game with just a single point from their two matches so far in Group E, and realistically must win at the Volkswagen Arena to have any hope of progressing to the last 32.

"This is a very tough place to come," Adams admitted.