Owen Dale enjoyed the opportunity to compete on one of football’s biggest stages.
The on-loan Blackpool forward was part of the Pompey side that were only narrowly beaten by Premier League giants Tottenham in the Emirates FA Cup.
It took a wonder strike from England skipper Harry Kane to settle the contest at the Londoners’ impressive stadium.
And Dale knows the Blues have to maintain the standards they showed in the capital to turn around their league form.
He said: “It was a great experience for all of us and I thought we gave a really good account of ourselves.
“We were up against an unbelievable team and limited them to one goal, with Kane sticking it in the top corner.
"There’s a good group here and now we need to make sure that we can kick on from this and not let the season peter out."
“Games likes these might not come around too often and the stadium is unbelievable, while Tottenham have obviously got so much class.
“We can be proud of our performance. We had to work hard and had a couple of moments when we might have nicked something.
“There’s a good group here and now we need to make sure that we can kick on from this and not let the season peter out.”
The Blues were backed by almost 9,000 noisy fans, who made themselves heard throughout the third round tie.
Dale said: “You can never fault the Pompey support and they were unbelievably loud from start to finish.
“It’s a privilege to play for this club and to play for them. They were the 12th man for us, just like they always are.
“We owe it to them to start getting a few more points and climb up the table to make it a season to remember.”