Jermain Defoe just smiles when people suggest he has the predatory instincts to be the best striker in the country.

He is content to let others comment on that - but there is no doubt he believes in his ability to cause an upset and grab the goals to ruin Luiz Felipe Scolari's Premier League debut as Chelsea manager and give Portsmouth their first Stamford Bridge win since 1953.

The England striker is confident Harry Redknapp's men can bury that statistic in front of the expectant Chelsea fans who have seen their team unbeaten at home for four years.

Defoe scored his first Pompey goal against Chelsea on his Fratton Park debut after a £7.5million move from Tottenham last January when they finally secured their first point - in a 1-1 draw - against Chelsea in 10 Premier League tussles.

He went on to grab seven more in the next seven games. And it was only because Portsmouth's focus was then distracted by the FA Cup final - for which Defoe was ineligible - that the spree stopped in the remaining four.

He had already set a new club record, though, rekindling memories of his Football League 10-in-10 while on loan from West Ham to Bournemouth eight years ago when, at 17, he was being touted as the next Jimmy Greaves.

Not only fans of Chelsea but also Tottenham, where he was marginalised by both Martin Jol and Juande Ramos, should take note as he now says: "I think we can go to Stamford Bridge and upset them.

"Last season we played Chelsea in my first game for Portsmouth and I thought we were the better side. Of course, it will be hard now. They are going to be buzzing with a new manager, but we are buzzing, too.

"It's not an easy place to go to but we can take a lot of good things from the Community Shield last week.

"If we can go there and work hard like we did against Manchester United then I think we can get a result."

Slated for their penalty shoot-out performance in last weekend's Community Shield at Wembley - Defoe was their only scorer from the spot - as United triumphed 3-1, Pompey's players are still proud of their performance in denying the Premier League and European champions a goal in open play.

Defoe said: "We can improve attacking-wise from last week, but we defended really well then and need to do that again."

He confirmed Pompey have been working hard under Redknapp on improving the quality of service to his 'Little and Large' partnership with 6ft 7ins £11million summer signing Peter Crouch.

He said: "I've played with Crouchie a few times and we have a natural understanding but a lot of the boys have not played with him before so it will take a while for others to get used to him.

"But everyone is working hard and it will pay off sooner rather than later."

After his end-of-season barren spell, Defoe was back on the mark in Pompey's opening friendly at Exeter last month and has added six more in the build-up to the season.

"Even in pre-season, it's always important to be scoring goals as a striker," he said. "It helps to build confidence and I will be looking to take that into the season."

Redknapp remains frustrated in the transfer market despite signing the likes of Crouch and Younes Kaboul this summer.

The manager, recently recovered from a bug apparently picked up on the club's recent visit to Nigeria, admitted: "It's not a bottomless pit. We can't expect the owner to keep funding it but it's hard when you have to sell top players.

"That's the way the game is and it's a fact that Chelsea look an even stronger side now for Scolari. He's inherited a team of world-class players and a few more have been added like Deco and Jose Bosingwa who will both be big stars in England.

"A team like that can rip you to pieces if you are not careful and we have to find a way to stop them."

Redknapp's surprise key man could be Papa Bouba Diop.

He is ready to use the former Fulham midfielder to block up midfield and said: "He just gives you that bit of power you need and we certainly will against Chelsea."

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