The prospect of a World Cup without Cristiano Ronaldo could move closer on Friday as Portugal face Russia in a key qualifier.
Fabio Capello's Russia have four wins from four, and are a point clear of both Israel and Portugal with two games in hand.
Text coverage of all World Cup qualifying matches - from 5pm on Friday (UK time)
Portugal boss Paulo Bento said the margin for error has reduced after losing to Russia and drawing with Northern Ireland earlier in the campaign.
"It's evidently an important match, we can't hide it," he said. "We are all aware that we are a bit more pressed than before given a smaller margin of error after dropping a few points along the way.
"We must be ready to cope with this situation. It's our reality right now so we need to face that situation as natural and with some conviction that we can conquer what we want, which is the three points."
Russia have scored eight goals in those four games - including a 1-0 home win over the Portuguese - and are yet to concede a goal.
"On the other side there will be a team which defends well," said Bento. "Proof of that is they have not conceded any goals.
"They counter-attack well, get the ball away from the pressure zone with a lot of ease. Their players are fast and, since we have to take the initiative, we have to be attentive about when we lose the ball and in which part of the pitch and be aggressive (on the ball)."
