It took Pompey just eight minutes to open the scoring against Swindon on a bitterly cold evening on the south coast.
Ronan Curtis was the man to grab the goal and help the hosts on their way to a 2-0 victory, with an Ellis Harrison penalty completing the job.
The Blues had failed to make the most of their first half dominance against Plymouth on Saturday, ultimately relying on two late goals to salvage a point.
So Curtis was pleased that they made an early breakthrough against the Robins to boost promotion hopes.
The winger said: “We didn’t start well enough in the last game, but we got it right against Swindon on what was a really cold evening.
“The lads showed great character and professionalism, and – in the end – the win was comfortable enough for us.
"We didn’t really capitalise on our dominance in the first half because we had loads of chances and the last pass wasn’t quite right."
“I don’t think they had a decent chance on target and, overall, we can be pretty happy with our performance.
“We didn’t really capitalise on our dominance in the first half because we had loads of chances and the last pass wasn’t quite right.
“But that happens in football and we did what we had to do to get what was a really important three points.”
Curtis was on hand to fire the ball into the net when a Charlie Daniels set-piece had been helped on by John Marquis.
The Republic of Ireland international said: “I’m normally on those free-kicks, but Chaz said he wanted to take it and send the ball into the box.
“It was a really good flick-on by John and I just finished it off on the volley. It was a nice little goal and I’m just happy to be able to help my team-mates out.”