There were mutterings about Pompey possibly being dragged into a relegation battle during the early part of 2023.
But John Mousinho quickly managed to dispel that talk upon taking charge and now the discussions have taken an altogether different direction.
Saturday’s narrow win over Forest Green saw the Blues move to within three points of the play-off places with seven matches remaining.
And Ryan Tunnicliffe is delighted with the upturn in form that has kept the campaign alive as we enter the final straight.
The midfielder said: “When the gaffer came in we’d just been beaten at Bolton and it was a really tough time for the squad.
“But now we’ve given ourselves a real chance with seven games to go and also have momentum on our side.
“That’s credit to everyone at the club and there are times when we don’t play too well, but we’re still winning matches.
"We’ve given ourselves a real chance with seven games to go and also have momentum on our side."
“So we’ve got ourselves into a good habit and it’s great to see where we are compared to where we were.
“We go into every single game wanting to win and are keeping our end of the bargain, so we’ll see where it takes us.”
Owen Dale headed home from Joe Rafferty’s delivery early in the second half to secure all three points against a stubborn Rovers side.
Tunnicliffe said: “We had to be patient and wait for our opportunities, but we took one of them and got the win.
“If I was going to describe an Owen Dale goal to you then it certainly wouldn’t be a header at the back post!
“It’s the hardest job in football when you’re facing a side who are so well organised and it’s difficult to break them down.
“We saw that the previous week when they beat the team sitting top of the league, so to get the result is perfect.
“It’s frustrating that we couldn’t get the second goal and perhaps we dropped off too much when we should have put our foot on the gas.”