Portugal seek four points to reach Euro 2008

By Carlos Pontes

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal host Armenia on Saturday confident of winning and leaving themselves with only a draw to earn against Finland in Porto next week to qualify for next year's European championship finals.

If Portugal take four points from their last two Group A qualifiers they can book their tickets to Austria and Switzerland.

"With two decisive games remaining it's up to us to do what we had expected to do before the competition: reach these two final games with a chance of qualifying," coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said.

Armenia have not had the best preparation for the game after their federation sacked caretaker coach Tom Jones, who took over earlier this year after the death of fellow-Briton Ian Porterfield.

The Armenians, who are in sixth place in Group A and out of the running for a Euro 2008 place, want a coach with a better track record, the federation said on Thursday.

Portuguese defender Miguel Monteiro will miss the games after being ruled out for two weeks with a thigh injury. He will be replaced in the squad by uncapped Sporting defender Abel Ferreira.

The Valencia player's absence adds to Portugal's defensive woes after centre back Ricardo Carvalho had to withdraw with a back problem, joining Chelsea team mate Paulo Ferreira and Juventus's Jorge Andrade on the injury list.

Real Madrid defender Pepe could make his debut for Portugal as Carvalho's replacement.