Danny Cowley hailed the performance of Pompey’s youngsters against Championship opposition.
His side played out a goalless draw in a 120-minute contest with Bristol City at their impressive Robins High Performance Centre base.
Joe Morrell, Sean Raggett, Kieron Freeman and Marcus Harness were left out as a precaution, with the latter instead training alongside the returning Denver Hume and Reeco Hackett.
But with that much experience missing for the visitors, they were still able to produce a display that pleased Cowley.
The Blues boss said: “I was really proud of my players against a top Championship side at their brilliant training venue.
“I looked at the game as two 60-minute matches and the first group were really well organised against the ball.
“We were compact and together, while there were moments when we were aggressive and overloaded the ball.
"In terms of the worth ethic and attitude they showed me, I thought they terrific. I was dead proud of them."
“I don’t think we quite got value for the chances that we did create, but certainly more than held our own.
“We were young and it was great to see Haji Mnoga and Jayden Reid, although there was experience around them.
“My reaction to the second group was ‘wow’. There were four first-year pros and one of them, Toby Steward, had just finished his GCSEs at this time last year.
“He's going to be some goalkeeper and it’s really exciting to see what he’s capable of. I don’t mind giving him praise because he’s such a level-headed and humble boy.
“Dan Gifford was up against boys twice his size and didn’t give them a moment’s peace – harrying and chasing.
“We wanted to play the game in this format because the youngsters otherwise only get 15 minutes at the end and it doesn’t help their development.
“But we were able to see Harry Jewitt-White go toe-to-toe with Andy King, who won the Premier League with Leicester.
“In terms of the worth ethic and attitude they showed me, I thought they terrific. I was dead proud of them.”