Captain Danny Grainger is closing in on his long-awaited return from injury at Carlisle United, manager Keith Curle says.

The Cumbrian left-back is just a week to 10 days away from being available for selection, Curle said in his press conference today.

Grainger has been out with a knee injury since the 1-1 draw at Luton on December 10.

His return for the crucial remaining weeks of United's promotion push would come as a major boost to Curle.

"Danny is going to be field-based from next week and joining in training with us," Curle said.

"That will still be under a degree of restraint from the strength and conditioning [department].

"I would probably say a week to 10 days would see Danny being able to say he's back available for selection."

On the basis of Curle's estimation next Saturday's game at Plymouth could be a possible comeback game for Grainger.

A more realistic return, though, may be the following weekend's home game against Cambridge.

Midfielder Jason Kennedy is stepping up his rehabilitation from groin surgery, Curle said, with further checks expected in three weeks' time.

United's manager said he has no fresh injury concerns ahead of tomorrow's clash with Portsmouth at Brunton Park.

Curle is relishing the clash with the pre-season title favourites, who are six points behind third-placed United.

Curle said: "I think they [Pompey] have been the favourites to get automatic promotion this season, they will have been last season, and if they don't make it this time they will be next season as well.

"If you look at what they've got in their armoury, not only the players they've got but the budget and level of support they've got, they are minimum a Championship football club playing in League Two.

"The reasons for that have gone on before. They've got a very good manager that likes the game played in a certain way. It takes a little bit of time to get a whole club tuned into that.

"They were on a downward spiral, and if you go from the Premier League and being FA Cup winners to League Two, it's not always about what goes on on the field or in the changing room.

"Trying to addressing that, with a manager with a decent budget and views, doesn't mean change will always come as quickly as everyone would like. That can bring different pressures and anxieties, and they have to get managed and dealt with as well.

"If you look at the credentials they've got, Portsmouth should be going out and beating everyone four or five-nil every week. But that won't happen. That expectation can breed anxiety. You can then sometimes go and get more players, and better players, but then you find you can't get rid of the others, and having too many players can cause you another problem. They are things managers have to deal with.

"Being favourites week-in, week-out can affect you if the mentality isn't right in the club to deal with that.

"We went into the Doncaster game as underdogs, with everyone saying if we get beat, they would be 14 points clear and gone. Within the space of a week we are six points behind, and who's to say at the end of another busy week we can't be top?

"Do we feel underdogs on our own patch? No. We are very competitive. There has been a lot of talk that Portsmouth are looking forward to our playing surface - well, we look forward to it as well. They've got good players, and so have we."

Curle said he has invited an unnamed trialist back to the club in a week's time after the player trained with the squad this week.