PETER Crouch and Jermain Defoe have sent a clear message to their Barclays Premier League rivals and England manager Fabio Capello after finally launching their little-and-large strikeforce for Portsmouth.
The £18.5million pair, who grabbed three of the goals in Pompey's 4-1 friendly win at Bournemouth on Monday night, have never completed a full match in tandem before despite each winning 28 England caps and being on Tottenham Hotspur's books. Crouch,
who made his £11million move from Liverpool last week, scored twice against the League Two Cherries and laid on another for Defoe – who is a full foot shorter than him at 5ft 7ins.
And Crouch, who has played for Pompey boss Harry Redknapp in two different spells at Fratton Park and at Southampton, insisted: "Myself and Jermain worked well together.
"I was really pleased with how it went. Three goals in one game together isn't a bad start. Hopefully we can continue like that."
The striker was sold by Redknapp to Aston Villa for £5million to finance Portsmouth's 2003 promotion campaign and then bought by Liverpool for £7million when the manager was at St Mary's and trying to save Saints from relegation.
Crouch added: "It is important to build up a good understanding. Come the start of the season I'm sure we will know each others' game inside out. That will be good for Portsmouth."
