Pompey boss Tony Pulis wants a carnival atmosphere to sign off the season at Fratton Park, but that won't give anyone licence to play like clowns.

For the first time in several seasons Pompey supporters won't be anxiously looking at results elsewhere and Pulis wants his players to celebrate their safety in style - a far cry from what he originally envisaged Sunday's clash wth Queens Park Rangers would be.

"When I first took over I honestly thought our relegation fight would go to the wire and that our fate would hinge on us going into the last game needing the points to stay up.

"It will be nice to have a bit of a carnival atmosphere there. The pressure is off us and we can celebrate a bit what we have achieved over the last three months.

"But that doesn't mean to say the players can slacken off," says Pulis, who feels his side now have a bigger duty than ever.

"They have a responsibility to the supporters to reward them for their support and I think the supporters will want to thank the players for their efforts.

"We have to make sure we do it right in front of our supporters," said Pulis.

That means he's unlikely to tinker with the personnel in his line-up and is unlikely to blood any of his youngsters.

But the Pompey boss did hint of one change.

"So far this season we have been a rigid 4-4-2. I might change the system to see how it goes. It would be nice to have the opportunity to look at players in certain areas and see how we adapt, all the while knowing we can shift back to 4-4-2 if we need to."

Defender Andy Awford is still waiting for test results which will tell him the extent of the knee injury picked up at Walsall last Saturday, while Steve Claridge is the only other injury absentee.

Midfielder Shaun Derry will return to the reckoning after sitting out a one-match ban.

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