Pompey’s unbeaten start to the League One campaign is about to be met with some serious resistance.
Fellow high-flyers Peterborough, Plymouth and Ipswich are among the sides lying in wait over the next four weeks.
But Danny Cowley is not daunted by the run of fixtures ahead and looks forward to seeing his side tested by the best the division has to offer.
And it all starts on Saturday, when Grant McCann’s free-scoring Posh outfit make the trip to the south coast.
The Blues boss said: “We’ve got a really exciting September and are going to be challenged by the teams we’re playing against.
“When you compete against the top sides, it gives you instant feedback on your own performance. We expect to learn a lot.
“But we believe in the way that we work and our players – as footballers and people – so we’re looking forward to tackling that.
“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves and just want to keep trying to improve and be better than yesterday.
“Peterborough have just come down from the Championship and have an experienced group who will have benefitted from being at their level.
"When you compete against the top sides, it gives you instant feedback on your own performance. We expect to learn a lot."
“There’s a lot to admire about them and they continuously bring through young players. It’s a tough game, but we love being at Fratton Park and can’t wait for Saturday to arrive.”
Josh Koroma became the 12th summer signing when he completed a loan switch from Huddersfield just before the transfer window closed.
Cowley said: “Josh is fit and match ready, although the past 24-48 hours have been pretty crazy for him.
“He only arrived in the hotel at 2.30am last night, but he trained on Friday and we’ll have to make a call.
“We’re really pleased with the work we’ve done and I want to thank the owners for their continued support.
“So many people at the club have worked incredibly hard to put this window together and we’ve traded intelligently, allowing us to be aggressive with our recruitment.
“That means we’re a better team, squad and group today than we were at this time last year. There’s been significant progress.”
Michael Morrison could feature against Peterborough after returning to training following a head injury suffered at Port Vale last week.
Cowley said: “He followed all the concussion protocols and has ticked the boxes necessary. It certainly gives us a selection dilemma in that part of the pitch.
“The group is looking good and aside from Louis Thompson, everyone else is on the grass and training. That’s a real positive and long may it continue.”