Craig MacGillivray has been taken aback by the size of his new club.
The goalkeeper has been ever-present in the league since joining Pompey from Shrewsbury over the summer.
He helped his former club defy all expectations to reach the play-off final and narrowly miss out on promotion last term.
But – ahead of this afternoon’s match against Plymouth – he admits that joining the Blues feels like a step up.
“Shrewsbury was a lovely, tight-knit club, but it doesn’t really compare to here,” he says in the official matchday magazine. “Every home game has been sold out and even taking more than 1,000 fans all the way up to Doncaster last week is incredible.
“There was no real expectancy before and it was all about just trying to stay up. But here you’re expected to do well in the league and there’s a massive fan-base that demands it.
"Shrewsbury was a lovely, tight-knit club, but it doesn’t really compare to here."
“Compared to a lot of other sides in League One, it’s ginormous. It shouldn’t be in this division – at the very least it should be in the Championship.
“We all know that and everyone wants to be involved in a promotion hunt, so we need to keep things going.”
To read the full interview, where MacGillivray also discusses settling in at a new club, keeping clean sheets and enjoying regular football, pick up a copy of the matchday magazine from programme sellers around the ground.
Also in issue four, Gareth Evans reveals his firsts and lasts, while Matt Clarke has his general knowledge put to the test.
Fans can read exclusive columns from Mark Catlin, Kenny Jackett and Brett Pitman, while we continue to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Pompey’s first top-flight title success with a detailed look at the 1948/49 campaign.
There is also an in-depth look at Plymouth, an interview with former Blues and Argyle left-back Colin Sullivan and much, much more in a packed 84 pages.
And remember not to miss an issue this season, with the spine of the magazine revealing a fantastic picture as the campaign progresses.
You can pick up your copy for just £3 from programme sellers around the ground.