ADAMS EAGER FOR FERGIE SCALP

Adams - gunning for Fergie.

The FA Community Shield may not be top of Portsmouth's wish-list this season - but the proud FA Cup holders will not be at Wembley just to make up the numbers on Sunday.

Harry Redknapp's club have endured a difficult summer - the manager failing to hit all but one of his main transfer targets - but the spirit that drove them onto an FA Cup triumph last May and a notable eighth-place finish in the Premier League still exists.

And nobody typifies it more than Redknapp's right-hand man Tony Adams, the former Arsenal and England icon who has decided to stay on for one more year as assistant at Fratton Park rather than go in search of a managerial role elsewhere.

Adams, veteran of many a Wembley battle, still projects the enduring will to win that was his trademark as a player.

And looking ahead to Sunday's traditional curtain-raiser to the season, he revealed there is no-one he likes to beat more that Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United.

He said: "Alex? He's outstanding the way he consistently produces great teams and has developed players as well as bought them. I have the utmost respect for him.

"He is a great man at a great club but there is just something about him and them that I love beating.

"If I'm honest, I think I love beating them more than I would beating even Arsenal. It's just something that's there - just like Alex always wants to beat Liverpool, maybe.

"I don't know how long he's going to go on but he's been fantastic. I'm still dreaming I know, but one day I might be lucky enough to be Arsenal manager - and knock United off the top."

Pompey's route to Wembley in May was blocked by only one real obstacle - a quarter-final at Old Trafford, which they won with a Sulley Muntari penalty and, indisputably, a shed-load of luck.

Ferguson, of course, was infuriated, castigating the match officials, and Adams recalled: "Yes, he wasn't very happy. Did we deprive them of the treble or something as it turned out?

"He swore at me afterwards - but he also gave an order. He said we had to go on and win it now after beating United."

Mind games are not necessary before a Community Shield game - neither the result nor performances will tell us much about the two teams' prospects for the season - but you sense defeat would still leave Adams with a profound sense of disappointment, even though the facts suggest he should expect it.

United have not bought a big player this summer - all the talk of taking Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov is still just speculation - and they are certain to be without Cristiano Ronaldo through injury and Wayne Rooney with a virus.

But Adams knows United still have enough talent to give Pompey a grilling unless they can rise above a stream of disappointments in the transfer market over the last few months.

Boss Redknapp failed to appear for a pre-Wembley media briefing, preferring to keep his own counsel about why he has not been able to compete yet for targets like Shaun Wright-Phillips at Chelsea, Tottenham's Younes Kaboul and left-back Nicky Shorey - who left Reading for Villa Park instead of Fratton Park.

Pompey's fans will only find consolation in Peter Crouch's £11million debut up front alongside Jermain Defoe, last season's £7.5million star recruit whose transfer from Spurs cost him two Wembley appearances.

Adams said: "In the end it depends on the board and the finances what players we can bring in, but I've no doubt Harry will be pushing and pushing for more. He's done that since I've been here the last two years and some terrific players have come here.

"You've always got to believe but at the same time you have to be realistic. The level of quality has gone through the roof here the last few years and we've had two consecutive top-10 finishes.

"Last season we even managed to put the FA Cup on the sideboard as well and if we did something similar in the league this time it would be an achievement.

"Finishing 11th or 12th is not the end of the world either. I don't know if we've got the quality we want to go and compete in all competitions, including Europe. We've got the numbers, certainly, but going for all four? I don't think so.

"There is always expectation, especially after you've won something like the FA Cup and got into the UEFA Cup, but the UEFA Cup can be blessing or curse if you haven't got the players you need.

"What was it, the first time we've won the FA Cup since 1939? You always want to push on but you can't discount the possibility that Portsmouth fans might have to wait another 70 years before they have success like that again."