Bristol City deny Adams Cup relief

FA Cup holders Portsmouth were unable to lift the pressure on manager Tony Adams after they began the defence of the trophy with a goalless draw at home to Bristol City on Saturday.

Second-tier Championship side City were well worth the replay they achieved for themselves at Pompey's Fratton Park home and might have snatched a win had not England goalkeeper David James denied Bradley Orr with a fine save.

The draw meant Pompey had not won their last four games in all competitions and added to the anxieties of Adams, who was without ill, want-away striker Jermain Defoe.

In the absence of the England forward, his fellow strikers David Nugent and Defoe's international colleague Peter Crouch both went close while French defender Sylvain Distin forced City keeper Adriano Basso into a good save on the half-hour mark.

But the morale-boosting win Adams and Pompey so badly needed would not come and they now face a tricky replay at City's Ashton Gate ground.