Gareth Evans is used to playing in front of near capacity crowds at Fratton Park.
But he was also happy to feature in a contest against Crawley that attracted a rather more modest attendance.
There were just over 1,500 fans inside the ground to watch Pompey beat Crawley 3-1 in the group stage of the Checkatrade Trophy.
And, having had to contend with cameo roles from the bench in recent weeks, Evans was pleased to be out there from the start.
The right-back said: “It’s always nice to get a win at Fratton Park, even if it wasn’t a big crowd.
“Sometimes the toughest thing about these games is to get yourself right mentally, but we produced a professional performance. Our attitude and application were brilliant.
"I haven’t had 90 minutes in quite a while, so it was nice to get that under my belt."
“I’m used to playing regularly for Pompey and I haven’t had 90 minutes in quite a while, so it was nice to get that under my belt. I’ll probably wake up in the morning feeling quite stiff!
“We’ve got strength in depth here, so you have to stay on your toes because you never know what’s going to happen.”
Evans was converted from a winger to a full-back last season and was joined in the back four against Crawley by striker Oliver Hawkins.
He said: “It’s been well documented that we’re on our knees with a bit of an injury crisis.
“We had one and it seemed to snowball to about five or six and it’s really important players, so it’s unfortunate.
“We’ve ended up using one of our main strikers as a centre-half, but he did really well and applied himself yet again.
“It was disappointing to concede a goal, but we’ve come out with a win, so we can’t really complain too much.”