John Mousinho did not get carried away when his Pompey side strung together three successive victories.
So he is not going to get too down after that promising run came to an end with a midweek defeat at Barnsley.
Another tough test awaits this weekend, with League One leaders Sheffield Wednesday heading to the south coast.
And after analysing where they went wrong at Oakwell, Mousinho wants the focus to shift to how they can beat the Owls.
The Blues boss said: “It was a tough watch the second time around! But we made sure to sit down as a coaching staff to go through the points to improve.
“There was a huge amount to learn and you could see why we went wrong in certain areas. If you’ve got that long trip home, it’s better to get some work done.
“Every day – no matter what the league position or what we’re challenging for – is about looking to keep moving forward.
“Now we face a Sheffield Wednesday side who have assembled a really good squad. You look at their 11 and they’re all comfortable at the top end of this level and probably the next one as well.
"Every day – no matter what the league position or what we’re challenging for – is about looking to keep moving forward."
“It’s similar when you see their bench and Darren Moore has been there for a length of time to impose his style on them.
“We know we’ll have to be at our best and if we maintain our discipline, then we can beat sides – as we saw against Bolton – in the top six.
“We’re capable of doing that, so we have to stick to the game-plan and not let what happened on Tuesday affect us.”
Mousinho has not made too many changes to his starting line-up in recent weeks, but did not feel that had a bearing on their trip to the Tykes.
He said: “Results had been so good and keeping a similar side was working for us, while we’ve also been managing minutes in conjunction with the sports science department.
“I don’t think physicality or tired legs came into it at Barnsley – I just thought they were a better side than us on the night.”
Pompey could have another player available against the Owls, while their skipper is also nearing a return.
Mousinho said: “Clark Robertson is coming back into full training with no restrictions, so we expect him to be available for selection from the start of next week.
“Jay Mingi picked up a slight knock on Monday and although he travelled with us to Barnsley, wasn’t able to complete the warm-up. But he’s trained with us again and should be fine.”