PORTSMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB

A certain milk advert from the 1980s poured scorn on the stature of Accrington.

But Paul Cook knows full well that they can trip Pompey up this weekend if not taken seriously.

He was part of the Stanley side – along with Leam Richardson and Gary Roberts – that won promotion back to the Football League in 2006, later returning to manage the Lancashire club.

And Cook believes that his former gaffer John Coleman, who is now in his second stint in charge at the Crown Ground, deserves plenty of credit for what he has achieved.

The Blues boss said: “John and (assistant) Jimmy Bell have done really well and took them through a few divisions in their last spell to restore the club’s league status.

“John’s a great man-manager and also a very good coach – he’s a football person and puts teams together on very little money.

“Pompey, historically, are a bigger club and I don’t think there’s any disrespect by me saying that.

“They don’t get the numbers we get, but that doesn’t mean that football isn’t important to the people of Accrington.

“They haven’t conceded more than one goal in a league game and took Hull to penalties in the cup.

“So we certainly won’t be underestimating Accrington – it’s going to be a tough game for us on Saturday.”

Pompey have endured a hectic start to the season, with eight fixtures crammed into the first 25 days.

Cook said: “It’s been an incredibly busy schedule, with tough midweek games against Derby, Crawley, Reading and then Exeter.

“We’re really pleased that we’ve come out of this spell injury-free and now we’re looking forward to facing Accrington.”

Watch Cook speak about Saturday's game below or subscribe to Pompey PlayerHD for the full interview and to hear from goalkeeper Brian Murphy.