Don't let my club end up like this; PORTSMOUTH v FULHAM BARCLAYS PREM, TODAY, KO 3PM.

Byline: NEIL MCLEMAN

PAUL HART wants his players to give body and soul to prevent Portsmouth becoming another "skeleton" in English football.

And the Pompey boss claims it is "of no interest" if prospective new owner Sulaiman Al Fahim is in the Fratton Park crowd today.

The UAE-based businessman has yet to complete his takeover of the club despite months of talks.

The delay has seen the Pompey squad stripped of big names to pay off the club's debt and replaced by loan signings and free transfers. The low morale was shown in an extraordinary fight during their pre-season tour to Portugal between two players.

Yet Hart has shown his willingness to get stuck in by leading Pompey from relegation trouble to 14th place last season.

And the 56-year-old, who joked it will be "a miracle" if they stay up again, is deadly serious when demanding Portsmouth start their fight for Premier League survival today against visiting Fulham.

Hart said: "I will be telling them it will be a battle. We know it is a fight. Whatever happens, it is going to be a very tough season.

"But then again I believe there are 12 to 15 teams that are also going to find it extremely tough. At this point I am going to build my part up and say it is going to be a miracle if we stay up!

"Staying in the Premier League is difficult. You only have to look at the skeletons left over from the last few years - Ipswich, Leeds, and then Charlton. It is an unforgiving place.

"You will say a few players have gone and you would be right. But there is a still a huge backbone of players here, the character that we showed, the fighting spirit is still there. There is a hunger and ambition in the players to compete and to get this right."

Hart said he would draw on his experience of twice keeping cashstrapped Nottingham Forest in the Championship to help this season. He admitted: "They were difficult, dark days at Forest and we were facing much worse than we are facing here. As a club we knitted together. We got a team playing and fought the vultures off.

"Players at the highest level are no different. Everybody needs help and, hopefully, we are the sort of coaching staff that can deliver that help."

Hart says "it would be in the best interests of the football club" to quickly finalise the club's takeover. But when asked if Al Fahim will be at Fratton Park today, he replied: "It is really of little importance to me where anyone is. The important thing is the football side."

CAPTION(S):

BARE BONES Portsmouth already have a real fight on their hands to stay in the top flight