Danny Cowley was encouraged by what he saw from Pompey’s pre-season opener.
They were narrowly beaten by QPR at the Championship outfit’s Harlington training base, despite John Marquis firing them ahead.
There were 21 players used by the visitors – including eight trialists – with the entire outfield changed at the interval.
And with the new League One campaign fast approaching, Cowley was pleased with how Pompey fared in their first friendly of the summer.
The Blues boss said: “There were a few new relationships – which is expected at this time of year – but I was pleased with the intensity.
“To win the first half against a really good Championship side was pleasing and there are a lot of positives to take.
“Although we ended up losing the second half, I thought we were the better team and I was disappointed for them.
"There were a few new relationships – which is expected at this time of year – but I was pleased with the intensity."
“I was impressed with the number of turnovers we got in the opposition half and there was incisive attacking play.
“There were probably three really good chances that you have to take if you want to win games. We weren’t quite as ruthless as we would have liked.
“It gives us a good base, though, and we’ll take some learning from it before preparing for the Havant & Waterlooville match.”
Alex Bass was the only player to appear for the entire 90 minutes, making his first Pompey appearance in seven months after suffering a leg fracture.
Cowley said: “It was great to see Alex back and he’s trained really well in the past couple of weeks. His handling looked good and there was probably only one lapse of concentration.
“He didn’t have too much to do, but what he did was efficient and there were some good decisions made.”
Tickets for Saturday’s match against the Hawks at Westleigh Park – which kicks-off at 3pm – are available to buy online from the home club.