He was pretty much a spectator for much of Saturday’s contest at a wet Fratton Park.
But Alex Bass still enjoyed his second league appearance for Pompey in a goalless draw with Gillingham.
The academy graduate’s only save was from a tame effort by Brandon Hanlan with 82 minutes on the clock.
After also featuring in the Leasing.com Trophy draw at Oxford earlier in the week, it was a quieter afternoon for the 21-year-old.
He said: “It was a completely different game to Tuesday and I just had to keep my concentration because the boys in front of me dug in and I didn’t really have a lot to do.
“Gillingham didn’t have any proper shots on target and there weren’t a lot of crosses coming in that I had to deal with.
“I didn’t really see much of the ball and you’re wondering when the first touch will come, but eventually it was a simple little pass.
" I just had to keep my concentration because the boys in front of me dug in and I didn’t really have a lot to do."
“It is tough when you’re standing in the rain and getting cold, but you have to be ready in case they get a chance.
“With it being only my second ever league game, there was plenty of adrenaline and that got me through.
“Walking to the ground when you know you’re going to be playing is a lot different than normal, but it didn’t really kick in until I came out the tunnel and could feel the atmosphere.
“But I really enjoyed myself out there and hopefully there will be a lot more appearances to come for me.”
Pompey had chances to secure all three points, with a Sean Raggett header that hit the inside of the post the closest they came to scoring.
Bass said: “I was obviously delighted with the clean sheet, although it was frustrating because we couldn’t break Gillingham down.
“They were sitting in very deep and letting us have a lot of the ball – it’s hard to score against teams who are playing like that.
“We tried our hardest and created quite a few chances, with their keeper having to make some really good saves.
“We’ll keep working hard – offensively and defensively – and I’m pretty confident that it’s going to click for us soon.”