Gareth Evans has been a regular in the Pompey side in the early stages of the season.
But with plenty of midweek games to negotiate, the vice-captain knows he has to take care of his body.
He was one of just two players – the other being Ben Close – to start both last Saturday’s league defeat to Gillingham and Tuesday night’s Checkatrade Trophy win at Crawley.
And with the Blues visiting AFC Wimbledon this weekend, Evans is making sure he is in peak physical condition.
The midfielder said: “I look after myself as much as I can – on and off the pitch. I put in the extra work during the week to make sure I’m as fit as I possibly can be.
“I’ll do quite a bit of recovery on the Monday or even on a Sunday if we’ve got a midweek fixture. You have to monitor it.
"If you’re feeling a bit leggy then you perhaps take your foot off the gas a bit, although you go as much as you can during the game."
“If you’re feeling a bit leggy then you perhaps take your foot off the gas a bit, although you go as much as you can during the game.
“There’s a lot of leg weights and bits on treadmill – everyone’s got their individual programme and mine’s predominantly hamstring based.
“That’s because of the injuries I had last season and I think that has helped me to maintain my fitness.”
Evans is expecting a difficult encounter for the Blues, despite their opponents lying down in 20th position.
He said: “It’s always been a tough place to go. I know we won last season, but before that I haven’t had many results there.
“The ground is quite compact and there aren’t as many away fans as we would like, although you have to get used to that and I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Evans is a senior member of the Pompey squad and was impressed with the performance of 16-year-old debutant Haji Mnoga against Crawley.
He said: “You usually have to speak to players like that a lot and try to help them out as much as you can.
“They can come into the dressing room and be a bit nervous when they look around and see experienced professionals.
“But he came into his own and didn’t really need that much guidance – he seemed to take it all in his stride.
“I thought he was impressive and applied himself really well, so I’m sure it was a proud moment for him.”