FA Cup winners Portsmouth were cautiously relishing a maiden European campaign in next season's Uefa Cup after winning the FA Cup for the first time since 1939.
Harry Redknapp's side beat Cardiff City 1-0 in yesterday's final
to secure their first major title since winning the league
championship in 1950, but coach Joe Jordan insisted that the club
must now look to progress further.
"We've got try and make sure that we don't stand still,"
Jordan told Sky Sports before the team departed for a victory
parade on the south coast later today.
"The chairman has been great with Harry and allowed him to do
that and progress and bring players in. Now we're in the UEFA Cup,
we'll certainly be looking to strengthen the squad."
Portsmouth look forward to playing in Europe for the first
time knowing that with internationals like Lassana Diarra, David
James, Sol Campbell, Niko Kranjcar and Jermain Defoe - cup tied on
Saturday - they have the players to compete.
After two consecutive top half finishes they will also be
keenly aware of the perilous distraction a lengthy Uefa Cup run can
cause domestically.
"Bigger teams than ourselves have tried to adapt and take
that extra responsibity to challenge in Europe, and if you're not
prepared, you can suffer," former Scotland midfielder Jordan added.
"We want to be able to play on both fronts and we'll be
looking to balance the squad to allow that to be done."
Last season Everton's Uefa Cup run hindered their challenge
for Champions League qualification while Bolton Wanderers plummeted
from 7th to 16th despite fielding weakened teams in the latter
stages of Europe's second competition.
Porstmouth know Premier League success will be the true test
of progression.
"Pompey are in Europe and we want to give a good show, "
Jordan said "But we're looking for the top ten and hopefully be in
contention for a Uefa cup place through our league placing. That
would be a mark of improvement and success at the club."