He has suffered an injury hit past few years, so Louis Thompson was delighted to make his Pompey debut.
A Papa John’s Trophy group stage contest at AFC Wimbledon was not the most high profile occasion to mark his Blues bow.
And a 5-3 defeat – in a crazy contest that saw Ellis Harrison hit a hat-trick – was certainly not the desired outcome.
But it was a welcome milestone for Thompson, who is now looking to make his mark on the Pompey side.
The midfielder said: “It’s very pleasing because it’s been a long old road and now I’m hoping that’s the first of many.
“I want to get a fair bit more training under my belt, build on that performance and look to keep improving.
"All I can do is keep training as hard as I can and I’m definitely further along than I thought I would be at this stage."
“There’s a bit of cramp – which is to be expected – but other than that I’m not feeling too bad at all and want to make sure I’m ready when called upon.
“All I can do is keep training as hard as I can and I’m definitely further along than I thought I would be at this stage.
“My career has been a bit turbulent, which is well documented, and I don’t want to get too hung up on the injuries. That’s behind me now.
“There’s plenty more to come from me and when the minutes come along, I want to take that opportunity.”
Pompey fought from two goals down to lead 3-2 with 10 minutes remaining at Plough Lane, only to be hit by three late Dons strikes.
Thompson said: “We didn’t have much control and the game was a bit frenetic – especially at the start – but we improved in the second half.
“I just felt that we needed to manage things a bit better after getting the lead and we came undone to allow them back into the game.”