There is no doubt what is top of Kenny Jackett’s Christmas list this year – plenty of points over the festive period.
And the season of goodwill began in fruitful fashion for Pompey, who beat second-placed Ipswich at a rain-soaked Fratton Park.
Ronan Curtis’ fierce strike was enough to settle the contest, with the hosts looking dominant for much of the contest.
There was a brief period when the Tractor Boys – who saw skipper Luke Chambers dismissed late on – threatened.
But Jackett was pleased to see that his troops came through that and saw the game out fairly comfortably.
The Blues boss said: “I thought we deserved to win what was a fantastic game of football and our midfielders gave us a platform to build off.
“Neither side set out to defend and I have to congratulate the players because they dug deep and it’s a nice way to put last week’s defeat behind us.
"I thought we deserved to win what was a fantastic game of football."
“Ipswich had a period just after we scored our goal, but apart from that we were on top and finished strongly.
“There have been times this season when we’ve got increasingly nervous towards the end, but we came through it on this occasion.
“Ronan’s got nine goals now, which is one ahead of Ellis Harrison, and we want to keep making sure they have good service.
“It was a terrific strike and he’s been a real threat for us of late – we feel that he’s really back to his best.
“Now we’re just concentrating on facing Wycombe because that’s a really big game for us now and we want to get it right.”
It was not all good news for Pompey, however, as Ross McCrorie limped off with a hamstring injury late in the first half.
Jackett said: “It’s really frustrating for him because he started the game well and it’s just typical of his time at the club so far.
“We have to be patient because there’s a real player there and he’s a great character as well. We don’t yet know how long he’ll be out for.”