Lee Brown faced up to the media following Pompey’s poor performance at Burton during the week.
The stand-in skipper demanded a show of character from the side when table-topping Sunderland visited the south coast a few days later.
And that is exactly what was displayed, as the Blues roared back to winning ways in scintillating style.
Brown doubled their lead after Marcus Harness’ opener, with a John Marquis brace completing a thumping 4-0 victory.
And the defender knows that Pompey cannot afford to rest on their laurels after such an impressive showing.
He said: “That result was so important for us, particularly after what happened at Burton on the previous Tuesday.
“We put in a performance that totally warranted the scoreline and the boys showed plenty of character.
“If we hadn’t done that, then we could have gone under against a side that were top of the league and coming down to Fratton Park on a great run of form.
“We had to stand up and be counted and – to a man – that’s exactly what we did to get the three points.
"It’s all very well doing it for one game – we’ve got to find that level on a consistent basis. We can’t get too carried away."
“The boys that started, those who came on and the guys in the dressing room beforehand – we all contributed.
“But it’s all very well doing it for one game – we’ve got to find that level on a consistent basis. We can’t get too carried away.
“It’s important now that we just take matches one at a time and don’t look too far ahead of ourselves.
“We’ve got a little break because of the internationals and when we play again, we’ll just try to win that game.”
Brown only netted once in his first two-and-a-half seasons at Pompey, but has struck five times since Danny Cowley’s arrival back in March.
He took his tally for the current campaign to three goals with a confident right-footed finish in torrential rain.
Brown said: “They’re going to dry up sooner or later! It’s always nice to score, though, and so I was delighted.
“Those conditions were terrible. It was awful out there and, to be fair to him, the referee managed it perfectly
“He would have been under a bit of pressure to call it off, although I’m not sure he’d have made it to his car if he did that!”
⭐️ The gaffer, @JohnMarquis09 and @brown_628 all named in the Team of the Week#Pompey https://t.co/wwjlJECZOY
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) October 3, 2021