Seven League One matches had been and gone without a goal for Pompey striker John Marquis.
So the summer signing was both delighted and relieved to scorer the winner against Lincoln at Fratton Park.
It would not have been his most memorable strike, but the 27-year-old was positioned in exactly the right place to follow up after Christian Burgess’ header was saved.
Now Marquis will be targeting more goals to help fire the Blues up the table following an inconsistent opening to the season.
He said: “I’m a confident person, although if I’m being honest it has played on my mind a little bit. It’s probably my longest run without one.
“I’ve scored regularly in the past few years, but I know what I bring to the team with my work ethic and all-round game.
"I’m a confident person, although if I’m being honest it has played on my mind a little bit."
“There was a chance on Saturday that I should have done better with and you just have to keep plugging away, getting into the right areas.
“I just made the run and the ball fell nicely for me. I’ve scored and we’ve won the game, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.
“I believe that if the chances are there, then I’ll score them. I back myself to take them more often than not.
“We defended well as a team and I think we know we can be a lot better going forward. If we keep playing with that energy then it’s more enjoyable to play in and watch.
“Lincoln are a good side and if we want to get into the top half of the table – and there’s still a long way to go – these are the games where you need to pick up results.
“We haven’t been on the worst run of form, but performances have needed to be better and we know where we want to be.”