John Hartson has been hugely influential in the Uefa Cup run

It could be dismissed as pre-match mind games, but Porto coach Jose Mourinho insisted that he would prefer his defence to face Sutton than Hartson.

And Hartson suggested that Maloney could handle the occasion should manager Martin O'Neill decide to continue with the Scotland Under-21 international after his superb display in helping demolish Dundee last midweek.

But it would be a major surprise if O'Neill was not to restore Henrik Larsson's partnership with Sutton, which served Celtic so well until Hartson grabbed his opportunity during the Englishman's spell of injuries.

Hartson's own injury was seen as solving a dilemma of who to leave out and it means that O'Neill can utilise Sutton up front rather than the midfield role that some have criticised.

It also means that the midfield trio of Paul Lambert, Neil Lennon and Stilian Petrov should remain intact.

But Mourinho said: "Martin O'Neill's first choice is normally John Hartson and he is a better player than Sutton.

"But normally for central defenders it's easier to play against a more traditional player who is not so fast - it's easy to pick him up rather than a fast man.

"They could play Chris Sutton or Shaun Maloney, but I would prefer to play against Chris Sutton rather than John Hartson."

O'Neill has admitted that the loss of Hartson, whose slipped disc prevented him carrying on his fine form, would be a "massive blow".

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But the Welsh international striker said: "If Shaun was to be called upon, it wouldn't be a problem for him.

"He has shown over the last couple of seasons that he does everything asked of him and more when he is called into the team.

"He has all the attributes of a top player and I'm sure he'll go on to fulfil that potential, because he has a great attitude, he works very hard on his game and, if he is to get the chance, the manager will have every faith in him.

"We've a great squad and we haven't got this far without having top players, and Shaun comes into that category.

"However, whoever is called into the squad won't let anybody down because everyone at the club is there on merit and has that desire to bring success to the club."

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Rab Douglas is likely to start, despite only being rated fit enough to start on the bench against Dundee on his latest return from injury.

Javier Sanchez Broto stands down as he was cup-tied with Livingston in the early rounds.