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Michael Appleton: Players remain focused

Michael Appleton says that his Portsmouth players are approaching the Birmingham City game as "normal".

Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton has quashed any suggestions that his players are distracted by their wage dispute as they head into a Championship clash with Birmingham City tonight.

The Pompey team are yet to receive last month's payment following the club's failure to pay a £1.6m tax bill, which resulted in their bank account being frozen.

"You would not have thought it was a problem if you watched the lads in training," the Daily Star quotes Appleton as saying. "You would think everything was normal.

"We can only affect events on the field so we are just focusing on going to Birmingham and giving a good account of ourselves."

Portsmouth currently sit 17th in the Championship table.

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds26158348192953
2Burnley26141023192252
3Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd26166436171952
4Sunderland26148439221750
5Middlesbrough26118743321141
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom26913432211140
7Blackburn RoversBlackburn2511682823539
8Bristol City2691073330337
9Watford25114103536-137
10Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds2610793840-237
11Norwich CityNorwich269984337636
12Swansea CitySwansea2697103030034
13Queens Park RangersQPR2671182934-532
14Millwall257992423130
15Preston North EndPreston2661282834-630
16Coventry CityCoventry2678113437-329
17Oxford UnitedOxford Utd2577112840-1228
18Derby CountyDerby2676133135-427
19Stoke CityStoke2669112432-827
20Luton TownLuton2674152744-1725
21Portsmouth2458113041-1123
22Hull City2658132536-1123
23Cardiff CityCardiff2558122540-1523
24Plymouth ArgylePlymouth2548132453-2920


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