Nathan Thompson is extremely satisfied with how Pompey have progressed over the past year.
There was a clear gap between the sides when they were beaten 2-0 at Scunthorpe in the early stages of last season.
But goals from Tom Naylor and Gareth Evans saw the Blues secure a comfortable interval advantage in the latest Glanford Park encounter.
And although Lee Novak reduced the hosts’ deficit, Thompson was pleased to that Pompey were able to see the game out.
The right-back said: “We’ve shown that we’re capable of grinding results out – away from home in particular.
“Scunthorpe is always a difficult place to come and I don’t think I’d picked up three points in any of my previous visits here.
"The boys have shown we’ve got that fighting spirit to see things out – I see it every single day in training."
“It’s a mark of how this side’s progressed when you look at how we got on in the same fixture last season. We’re going in the right direction.
“When you look at the guys Scunthorpe have, it probably wasn’t the game to just launch balls into the box.
“So we tried to pass our way in there and it’s fortunate that we’ve got guys like Gaz who can produce fantastic finishes.
“We dominated the first half and created numerous chances, while we had to dig in a bit more after the break.
“But the boys have shown we’ve got that fighting spirit to see things out – I see it every single day in training.
“There were times in the past when we’d concede a goal and go under, but now we’re going to away games feeling confident about winning.”
Thompson is getting used to plenty of sleepless nights after his wife gave birth to a baby boy last month.
He said: “It’s tiring, but there’s no other feeling like going home to a little one. If you need any extra motivation, then it certainly gives you that.”