Higginbotham back for Pompey test

Higginbotham is in his second spell at the Britannia Stadium

Stoke City defender Danny Higginbotham is confident he will be fit enough to play against Portsmouth next Saturday.

The 30-year-old has missed Stoke's previous two matches because of an ankle problem.

"I've been working as hard as possible in training to make sure I'm in contention for the game on Saturday," Higginbotham told BBC Radio Stoke.

"It's getting very tight down there at the bottom and it's important that we get three points."

Stoke are 17th in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone, while Portsmouth sacked their manager Tony Adams on 9 February as a result of their slide into the bottom five in the table.

The Potters are expected to have Mamady Sidibe back from injury, but Ricardo Fuller will be out while he recovers from a dislocated shoulder, and Higginbotham thinks he will be missed.

He added: "Ricardo's a hard lad and when you see him in pain like that you know he's really hurt himself.

"All the lads wish him well and hopefully it will be sooner rather than later that he'll be back playing.

"We've brought in some good centre-forwards so that lessens the blow. We've got players who can come in and they know where the back of the net is."