PORTSMOUTH, England (AFP) - Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp has promised that Jermain Defoe will not be a forgotten man when his side face West Brom in next month's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
The England striker scored twice in the opening nine minutes of Pompey's 4-2 Premier League win over Birmingham City here at Fratton Park as the south coast club followed up their dramatic 1-0 FA Cup win away to Manchester United in some style.
But Defoe will not feature against the Baggies as he is cup-tied. He also missed Tottenham's League Cup final win over Chelsea after leaving Spurs for Portsmouth in January.
"Jermain is a natural goalscorer who will get 18-20 a season," said Redknapp after a win here Wednesday which moved Pompey up to seventh in the table.
"He was the first to text me with congratulations after we'd beaten Manchester United on Saturday. That shows the team spirit we have in the camp.
"This will be the second Wembley match he has missed but, yes, of course we will be taking Jermain to Wembley with us - hopefully twice."
Defoe put Pompey ahead from the penalty-spot in the sixth minute before doubling their lead three minutes later.
Birmingham, who were left just a point above the relegation zone, were level before half-time after through goals from Fabrice Muamba and Sebastian Larsson.
Hermann Hreidarsson restored Pompey's lead early in the second-half before Nwankwo Kanu's diving header sealed victory in the final minute.
Centre-back Sylvain Distin was caught out for Birmingham's first goal and Redknapp said: "He's been with his wife all day at the hospital where she's expecting and it looked as though his concentration suffered in the game. I just hope the baby is not born on semi-final day.
"I'm told we're seventh in the table now and it's going to be a tough scrap for the European places. It was a good game to win and the atmosphere out there was great."
Birmingham's first defeat in five games left them with a crunch clash against fellow strugglers Newcastle on Monday.
"That's going to be a big game," said City manager Alex McLeish.
"We've got a lot of plusses coming out of this game. We really went for it after coming back from two down in the first few minutes," the former Scotland boss added.
