Phil Brown admits he has plenty to think about when it comes to picking a side to face Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon.

As well as players who have been playing all over the world this week, the City boss was also given plenty of food for thought after watching the reserves beat Manchester United 2-1 with the likes of Dean Windass, Stelios Giannakopoulos and Ryan France playing key roles.

"You're waiting on the fatigue factor, the travelling factor, the injury factor. All sorts of things come into play (with the international players)," said Brown.

"We had a reserve game against Manchester United on Tuesday night and a lot of our senior players played a part in that.

"That reserve game has given me a bit to think about too. Dean Windass played a very mature role in terms of his attitude and he led the line very well alongside a young strike partner.

"Ryan France is on a different road and he is coming back from a long-term injury. Hopefully he is only one, maybe two games away.

"Stelios went out there and wanted to show everybody that he has still got it. He showed a lot of glimpses of how much quality he has got.

"Individually, they came through it unscathed and collectively, it was a good performance.

"Windass and Stelios are both in the squad for Saturday, although we're taking a 22-man squad down there."

Brown admits that Portsmouth are a side he would love City to emulate and is looking forward to the game at Fratton Park.

"They have well and truly established themselves in the Premier League. I go back to the days when Bolton were promoted and Portsmouth were still around 12th or 13th in the Championship.

"They've come a long way and there has been a lot of sound investment at the club. There's been one or two changes in management and now Tony Adams is at the helm.

"He'll be trying to get that first win at Fratton Park under his belt to get himself up and running. We've got to stand in the way of that.

"We're three games into the second batch of ten and we've only got one point from those three games, although we've played well enough in them (to get more).

"It's all about points in the Premier League. Our next two games are fairly tricky and they pose a different type of problem.

"I'm not saying they don't play football, but they are capable of being physical against you.

"But it's one game at a time and Portsmouth have been trying to play good football and they are a force at home."