It was a punishing afternoon to play 90 minutes of league football, with the temperature well into the thirties.
So Danny Cowley was delighted to witness such a polished performance from his Pompey side to secure three points at Cheltenham.
They were in control for most of the contest and a brace from Colby Bishop – the second coming from the penalty spot – got the job done.
Cowley still feels there is work to do, but was pleased with the majority of what he saw at Whaddon Road.
The Blues boss said: “It was a professional away performance from us and that’s now three clean sheets on the spin.
“That’s the sign of a good team and I thought we were powerful and organised, getting into a positive place in the game.
“When we are stretched there are boys who are willing to put their bodies on the line for the team and I was pleased for Josh Griffiths.
“We were playing some really nice football and it’s such a hot day – probably the hottest in my 15 years as a manager.
"We’re a real threat now and look like we can score powerful goals, with another well worked set-piece in the second phase for the opener."
“So the final period saw us playing for the end and you would like to have seen more control, but we’re still a work in progress.
“We’re a real threat now and look like we can score powerful goals, with another well worked set-piece in the second phase for the opener.
“Colby actually made the wrong run and said that he knew he had to score otherwise he would have got so much stick!”
Pompey now have depth in their ranks and were able to introduce plenty of big names from the bench.
Cowley said: “You need a squad and when you get that, there will be competition for places and someone gets left out.
“People always think that players are being dropped, but sometimes it’s just a case of moving and rotating the group to maintain that intensity.
“Now that we have the opportunity to use five substitutes, football is more of a team game than ever before.
“I knew that Cheltenham would have lost a bit of confidence in their bench after Tuesday, while we had a lot in our bench.
“So if we could bring the calvary on around the 60-minute mark then they could have a big influence on the action.”