Harry Redknapp awoke yesterday morning to reports linking David James with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, but after watching his goalkeeper provide the platform for this most fortuitous of FA Cup victories against Preston North End, it is not hard to understand why the Portsmouth manager is so fiercely opposed to such a prospect.

Preston should have been out of sight by the time Portsmouth claimed an undeserved winning goal, when Darren Carter turned the ball into his own net with virtually the last kick of the game. But in James they came up against a brick wall. No wonder Fabio Capello restored the man to the England team for his first match in charge earlier this month.

Simon Whaley may have most reason to curse James, who saved the Preston midfield player’s 60th-minute penalty, but the home team had plenty of other chances to take the lead.

During the 14 minutes that followed Whaley’s penalty miss, James appeared to be on a personal crusade to keep the scores level as Preston regularly exposed Portsmouth’s ramshackle midfield and defence. The longer such heroics went on, the longer it looked like not being Preston’s day and, when Portsmouth won a corner in the third and final minute of stoppage time, the locals could have been forgiven for fearing the worst.

The goal that followed should not have stood as the ball appeared to hit the arm of Hermann Hreidarsson, the Portsmouth defender, before eventually finding its way into the net. However, it was symptomatic of Preston’s misfortune that Mike Dean, the referee, failed to spot the infringement.

Niko Kranjcar’s corner should have been cleared by Paul McKenna, but the Preston midfield player misjudged a header, and after the ball rebounded off Hreidarsson, Carter seemed bamboozled by the melée around him and thrashed the ball into his own goal.

“It was cruel, we didn’t deserve to lose that game and it was a handball [by Hreidarsson],” Alan Irvine, the Preston manager, said. “I was really pleased we created some very good chances, but we faced a top-class goalkeeper on top form.”

Even accounting for the state of the pitch, Portsmouth had no excuses for being so poor. Other than the absent Jermain Defoe, who was cup-tied, Redknapp fielded his strongest team available, but for all their possession for long periods of the game, Portsmouth were one-dimensional.

Pass after pass went astray and shots were miscued. It was a wonder that Portsmouth are challenging for a European place. Kranjcar should have done better with a free header and Sulley Muntari had a 25-yard free kick tipped over, but Portsmouth created precious little else. Kanu was given little support by a lifeless midfield who in turn offered their defence no protection as Preston roamed forward at will. Sylvain Distin and Sol Campbell were given a torrid time. Distin was suffering from flu, although after this runaround, his defensive partner must have been feeling nauseous, too.

Whaley’s penalty miss, after Distin had tripped Billy Jones, was not the half of it. Chris Brown had a swerving drive superbly snuffed out by James two minutes later before Carter was the next to be denied after wriggling past two markers and shooting low. James’s best save of the game came in the 74th minute when he tipped aside a stinging shot from Neil Mellor.

Portsmouth, though, were to have the last laugh. With luck like this, their name may well be on the trophy this season.

How they rated

Preston North End

4-4-2

A Lonergan 7

B Jones 6 Y Mawene 7

L Chilvers 7

C Davidson 6

C Sedgwick 6

P McKenna 6

D Carter 7

S Whaley 7

C Brown 7

K Hawley 6

Substitutes: N Mellor (for Hawley, 71min), R Chaplow (for Sedgwick, 87). Not used: G Szamotulski, B Ormerod, M Hill. Next: Watford (a).

Portsmouth

4-1-4-1

D James 8

G Johnson 6

S Campbell 5

S Distin 5

H Hreidarsson 6

P Bouba Diop 5

J Utaka 6

L Diarra 5

S Muntari 6

N Kranjcar 6

Kanu 5

Substitutes: M Baros (for Muntari, 76). Not used: J Ashdown, L Aubey, Lauren, R Hughes. Next: Sunderland (h).

Goalscorer: Portsmouth: Carter 90 (og)

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