King James perks up Pompey

EVEN at the age of 37 some believe David James still has plenty to learn, but he produced an outstanding performance, including a penalty save, to propel Portsmouth into the quarter-finals yesterday.

Darren Carter’s own goal three minutes into added time may have applied the decisive finish, but it was James who deserved the credit for keeping Harry Redknapp’s subdued side on the road to Wembley.

James has reclaimed his England place and Redknapp was keen to douse talk of interest from Tottenham in his former Liverpool and Aston Villa player. He failed to make contact with a couple of early crosses and his kicking from the hand and the floor was suspect but he made several important stops in the second half before turning away Simon Whaley’s penalty to give Pompey the platform to win the tie.