Portsmouth and Cardiff ready for Wembley showdown

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Portsmouth will start as clear favourites when they face Cardiff City in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday although after a competition laced with upsets nothing can be taken for granted.

The Premier League side are hoping to win the Cup for the first time since 1939 while Cardiff, the only non-English club to triumph in the world's oldest Cup competition, must go back to 1927 for their sole success.

Not since 1991 have none of the established "big four" of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool reached the final so there is plenty of novelty value about this year's showdown at Wembley.

Portsmouth saw off Manchester United in the quarter-finals and Harry Redknapp now stands just one win away from his first major trophy as in a long managerial career.

"I'm not going to come away and say I've had a good day if we've lost, only winning it will make it a good day for me," Redknapp told Portsmouth's Web site on the eve of the final.

However, Cardiff showed when beating Middlesbrough in the quarter-final that they cannot be taken lightly and will be confident of becoming the first team from outside the top flight to win the Cup since West Ham United beat Arsenal in 1980.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Greg Stutchbury)