The Reds travel to Fratton Park tomorrow lunchtime to face the Barclays Premier League's bottom club.

While Liverpool are sixth in the standings, Pompey have matched them for form in recent weeks as both sides have taken four points from their last three games.

Benitez has publicly admitted his Reds are low on confidence and if ever the south coast strugglers had an opportunity to upset one of the Premier League's heavyweights, this would appear to be it.

Grant goes into the match with an unbeaten record against Benitez, having achieved two wins and two draws against Liverpool in all competitions during his stint as Chelsea boss in 2007/08.

His Blues won their Champions League semi-final encounter over two legs and also knocked the Anfield outfit out of the Carling Cup.

But Grant knows better than anyone what to expect from last term's Premier League runners-up and despite the Merseysiders' recent struggles, he is gearing up to face a top-four side

The Israeli said: "Liverpool deserve to be in the top four - they are a very good team. There is never a good time to play a big team.

"Of course, my record against him (Benitez) is a record I would like to keep. But it's not easy to play against his teams.

"He's very tactical and he knows what he is doing. I must admit that it was always very difficult to play against him with Chelsea."

Pompey's defensive resources will be bolstered by the return of Younes Kaboul following the one-game ban he served against Chelsea.

Kaboul is likely to take 22-year-old Marc Wilson's place in the side.

The Pompey young gun's reckless challenge on Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic handed the Blues the penalty which saw them beat Grant's men 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

But the Pompey manager was quick to defend Wilson and insists he will learn from his mistake.

He said: "I think the most important thing is that Marc is doing a good job for us.

"He has played very well this season and I think he needs to know that when he is good, everyone says we have a good player. But he will make mistakes.

"He can't take it personally. Sometimes it happens, but a good player will learn from this.

"If we want young players to develop, it's useful for them to play at Stamford Bridge. We won't judge him only on one game."

One concern for Grant going into the festive period remains the club's transfer embargo.

They have been blocked from signing players by the Premier League until they pay off debts to Chelsea and Arsenal for the signings of Glen Johnson and Lassana Diarra respectively.

But Grant is hopeful the ban will be lifted in time for him to strengthen his side in the January transfer window.

He said: "I've had no news at the moment but I have a feeling it will be okay. I think the board know exactly what we need to make the team better and they know what they need to do.

"I need to take care of the problems and situation on the pitch and they need to take care of this problem.

"I think they are doing their best and I have a feeling everything will be okay.

"With the African Nations Cup coming, we will need three or four players. I know what players I want."