He has not started a League One match since Pompey drew at Wigan in August.
But Kyle Bennett is prepared to get his head down and earn a route back into Kenny Jackett’s side.
The winger did play the full 90 minutes of Tuesday night’s 3-1 Checkatrade Trophy win against Crawley, providing an assist for the third goal.
And he accepts that he might well have to bide his time before getting a chance to impress in the league.
Bennett said: “It was probably the longest I’ve gone without starting a game when I hadn’t been injured.
“So it was good to get out there again, even if I could feel my legs starting to tire a bit after about 70 minutes.
"A new manager comes in and will bring in new players and ideas. It’s my job to force my way into his plans."
“You go through times like this in your career and you just have to get on with it. It happens in football and you need to make sure you’re ready for when you get chucked back in.
“A new manager comes in and will bring in new players and ideas. It’s my job to force my way into his plans.”
Bennett will hope to be involved when Pompey travel to Gillingham for a televised contest on Sunday.
The hosts are without a permanent manager following last month’s departure of Ady Pennock and have won just once in the league this season.
Bennett said: “Gillingham players know that their new manager might be watching and so it might give them an added boost.
“We saw it with Oldham, who have now won three games on the bounce and it happens quite a lot in football.
“But the application is always there from our players at the moment – even if results haven’t always gone our way.
“We need to minimise our mistakes, though, because they get punished a lot more when you move up a level.”