A depleted Pompey Academy side were held to a 1-1 draw by Newport in their latest Youth Alliance League contest at Furze Lane.
Harrison Brook teed-up Seok Jae Lee (pictured) to give the Blues the lead after the interval, only for Lewys Twamley to secure a point for the Welsh visitors.
Professional development phase coach Liam Daish said: “We had a few players who were missing for us because they need to take a Covid test.
“None of them are showing any symptoms, but were required to isolate because of other people in their household.
“It as always going to be tough because of the effort we produced – particularly in the second half – to battle back and beat Didcot in the FA Youth Cup earlier in the week.
“But there was a lot of commitment shown by our players and we were just missing a little bit of quality on this occasion.
"It’s useful experience for the lads to come through these difficult perods when you’re a few players down and the games come thick and fast."
“We were running on empty and could have done with a few more boys available. They stuck in there, but it was a war of attrition at times.
“Josh Dockerill came in for his U18s debut and well. He didn’t look out of place for such a young lad and we were delighted with his performance.
“Seok Jae gave us the lead with a good finish, but we conceded soon after. There were opportunities for us to win the match, but we might also have lost it.
“It’s useful experience for the lads to come through these difficult perods when you’re a few players down and the games come thick and fast.”
Pompey: Pitman; Setters, Rew, Hughes, Dawson; Bridgman, Bell; Lee, Dockerill, Brook; Gifford (Benjani 70)