Tony Adams insists he has not given up on keeping Jermain Defoe at Pompey despite the striker wanting a Spurs return.

Defoe, who is understood to want to rejoin ex-Pompey boss Harry Redknapp back at Spurs despite a reported £20million rival bid from Italian giants Juventus, was left on the substitutes' bench last Sunday against Arsenal as Adams opted for a defensive formation in a creditable 1-0 defeat and missed the cup tie altogether with a bout of flu.

The illness conveniently prevented him becoming cup-tied should he move back to White Hart Lane where Tottenham are already through to the fourth round.

Insiders at Pompey are now convinced Defoe will join Lassana Diarra, who has been sold to Real Madrid for a fee of around £20million, as another star departure during the January transfer window.

But Pompey are adamant the England ace will not leave cheaply. Executive chairman Peter Storrie says the lucrative fee received for Diarra means the cash-strapped FA Cup holders do not immediately need to sell any more players.

And Adams said: "Jermain is still a Portsmouth player and maybe I'll make a point of talking to him on Monday when he returns to training because people often change their minds, don't they.

"It happened here with Joe Jordan (former first-team coach) after Harry left. All the time Joe was going to stay. Then suddenly he went to Spurs, bless him.

"I'm not going to confirm any bids through the press. All I'm saying is I'm hopeful Jermain will be available for next week's game here against Manchester City and then we'll see about the replay at Bristol."

Adams took criticism for keeping the 4-5-1 system he played at Arsenal for Pompey's first defence of the famous old trophy they won last season.

And he refused to say whether he would have picked Defoe alongside Peter Crouch in Pompey's traditional 4-4-2 line-up had the sick striker been available.

He said: "I didn't have that decision to make because Jermain was not very well at all but, yes, David Nugent could have played up front with Peter and so could Kanu. It crossed my mind a few times to do that.

"But I chose not to because I felt it more important to stay resilient, hard to beat, and not open up again like we have been doing a few times.

"We needed to gain some confidence (after four consecutive league defeats) by getting back to a clean sheet and now we can look forward to facing Manchester City.

"I'll think about the replay after that but I'm staying positive because we had five hard games against Championship sides in the FA Cup last season and the results could all have gone the other way.

"It's a difficult replay against a very good Bristol City team but we are still in the competition. And though that is very important because you want to win cups, you want to win games, I'll think about the replay after we've played Manchester City."

If Niko Kranjcar, the game's outstanding player, had buried an easy chance early in the second half dominant Portsmouth would surely have eased to victory.

But with Crouch superbly policed by rugged City centre-back Jamie McCombe, the team which lost out on Premier League promotion in last season's Wembley final against Hull defended doggedly.

Manager Gary Johnson sees no reason why they cannot win the replay a week on Tuesday despite "Pompey still having some world-class players" and also believes a Championship side is capable of winning the FA Cup.

He pointed out: "Three of the four clubs in the semi-finals last season were from the Championship. Cardiff and Barnsley both did great things and we want to as well.

"The FA Cup is fantastic because it is now the competition of the underdog. Of course we can aspire to winning it. We didn't come to Portsmouth saying we are going to lose so let's just enjoy the day.

"You've always got to believe you have a chance and that's how we'll be in the replay.

"Pompey played the same shape as us and we matched them all over the pitch. They had some injuries I know and will possibly have players to come back for the replay but then so could we."