RORY DELAP has warned Stoke City to 'beware of the wounded animal' ahead of the Barclays Premier League match against Portsmouth at Fratton Park tomorrow.

The Potters travel to the south coast looking to extend their nine-match unbeaten run and add to the troubles of a club firmly rooted to the foot of the Premier League.

However, despite their lowly position, the 33-year-old midfielder is anticipating facing a side who will be high in confidence despite all the goings on away from the field.

"It's definitely the case of the wounded animal scenario," believes the former Republic of Ireland international. "It can be very dangerous to go somewhere and think that they've got all this trouble on their head and that's all they'll be thinking about.

"That won't be the case because over the last few weeks they've picked up and started getting results, and they're still not out of it.

"You would think that with all of all the press they've had, you'd expect them to be 15 points adrift, but they're not, they're not far of getting out of it.

Delap added: "Two or three good results and their season could be turned around, so we've just got to be careful of them and make sure it is ourselves who impose our game on them and not the other way around."

Having had to endure a somewhat similar situation during his time with Southampton, Delap admits he knows exactly what the players and supporters at Fratton Park are going through.

"There's no getting away from it, I think they're in a worse situation than the one Southampton were in when I was there, but it is similar and I know what the players and supporters will have been going through," he said.

"From a financial point of view, no-one really knows what is happening, and while that affects you for a time, you soon begin to all come together and fight for your lives. That is exactly what Portsmouth are doing now."

He goes on to add: "As much as there's rivalry from playing for Southampton down there, they can be your bitterest enemy, but no one wants to see a club struggle financially, and to see them go out of business, that would be catastrophic.

"I'm sure all the Southampton supporters and every other supporter in the land for that matter would agree with me. There's so much money around the game, I don't understand how and why this is happening, but it is, and hopefully Portsmouth and a couple of other clubs manage to get themselves out of it."

The midfielder's spell with the Saints won't have been forgotten by Pompey supporters, so inevitably he is expecting to get a rough ride along with several other City players when the two sides lock horns in front of the live television cameras.

"I think I will get a bit of stick, but that's part and parcel of football. If you have played for a rival team I think you are always going to get a bit of banter.

"It doesn't affect you though; it kind of spurs you on. It won't just be me though I think there are four or five other lads with connections down there one way or the other," he smiles.