High-flyers don't daunt us, says Pool boss

The Seasiders face two trips in the space of four days, with Carlisle up first at Brunton Park on Saturday before the long journey to the south coast on Tuesday night.

Keith Curle’s men are flying high in third position, while Portsmouth currently occupy the final play-off spot in League Two.

Bowyer said: “It’s two big clubs in this division in terms of fanbase and the atmosphere so we’re really excited as they’re the games you want to be playing in.

“You look at the two budgets the two clubs have got but what they have both done is use their budgets very well.

“You have to take your hat off to both managers but it’s up to us to go toe-to-toe with them and have a real good go.

“There’s always the opinion that the home team have to come out and dictate but we’ve been very good on the counter.

“But we’re not going to Carlisle and Portsmouth just to sit back and shut up, we’re going to have a go as that’s how we have to play, we want to play on the front foot.”

The Pool boss also revealed it is a good opportunity to play an attractive brand of football, which has been made difficult on home turf with the pitch cutting up.

“I think both pitches will have a lot more grass on it than Bloomfield Road, which helps with the players we’ve got in our squad,” he added.

“But that’s not using Bloomfield Road as an excuse, because you look at the performance we put in against Colchester and we’ve had opportunities to win the game, so that’s not down to the pitch.”