Portsmouth midfielder Michael Brown is keen to see his side clear the Barclays Premier League relegation zone altogether, rather than just move off the bottom.

Victory over his old club Wigan at Fratton Park on Saturday could be enough to lift the South Coast club away from the foot of the table.

Paul Hart's team has taken just four points from their opening 10 games and are currently five adrift of 17th-placed Wolves.

While three points against the Latics would give Pompey a massive morale boost in their quest for survival, Brown is determined to use it as a stepping stone to safety.

He said: "To me, it's just another step closer to fourth bottom. I think that's where I'm aiming.

"Whether we're bottom, second bottom or third bottom doesn't matter to me. It's about bridging that gap to fourth bottom and we need some valuable points towards getting that.

"There is a long way to go. We are five points behind and there are 20-odd games to go.

"So we're far from adrift and there are some big games to come - Blackburn, Stoke and Wigan on Saturday as well.

"There are some great games against teams around us and that is where we have to do well."

While Wigan are 10th with 13 points, the Latics will be acutely aware they could still get sucked into a relegation battle with an unfavourable run of results.

With Portsmouth having 28 games still to play this term, Brown knows his team's rivals will hit plenty of bumps in the road yet.

He said: "I've been in teams that have struggled for the last few years but if you look at our squad, I think it gives us a good chance.

"If you look at all the other teams down there and speak to other lads that are in that block of teams, which is the same every year, they're all sat there saying 'it could be us',

"I think there are teams to be had for us this year and I think we can get out of it."

Despite having close shaves with Tottenham, Fulham and Wigan in recent years, Brown has only ever been relegated with his first club Manchester City back in 1996.

This was the year that City fell out of the Premier League, before dropping down to League One two seasons later.

Plenty of water has passed under the bridge since then but the Hartlepool-born man still remembers the pain.

He said: "I was young and it probably changed my career for a few years. It's devastating and you see the knock-on effect it has.

"Man City was financially stable but it just knocks the stuffing out of everybody when it happens.

"I think there is a long way to go (for Portsmouth).

"Yes, we understand the points we have got, but we're still confident we can get out of it."

Pompey's spirits were given a massive lift in midweek following their 4-0 Carling Cup win over Stoke.

Goals have been hard to come by for the Fratton Park outfit this term and they are the Premier League's lowest scorers with five.

But with striker Frederic Piquionne bagging a brace against the Potters and Danny Webber also finding the mark, Brown hopes Pompey's strikers will start to fire in the league.

He said: "Something we need to work on is goals. We have a look on the videos quite often and try to see where we could improve in scoring situations.

"We'll keep doing that but it was nice Freddie got a couple of goals and Danny Webber came on with a fantastic finish."