John Mousinho was delighted with the character shown by his Pompey side to bounce back at Burton.
They were well beaten by Blackpool at the weekend to suffer a first League One defeat of the campaign.
But that winning feeling made an instant return in Staffordshire, with Colby Bishop converting a penalty late in the first half.
Alex Robertson completed a fine passing move to open his goalscoring account and leave Mousinho full of pride.
The Blues boss said: “I was unbelievably pleased with the result and I thought the performance, for large parts, was excellent as well.
“There were some tricky periods in the second half, which we started poorly, but we dug ourselves out of that and looked a real threat going forward.
“After everything that’s happened in the past few days and the morale taking a blow, there were questions asked about whether that was just a blip.
“This was going to tell us everything about our character and I’d asked for a solid, grown-up performance.
"There were some tricky periods in the second half, which we started poorly, but we dug ourselves out of that and looked a real threat going forward."
“We had to show a lot of mettle and did that in practically everything we did. We remained patient and then took those opportunities.
“The only disappointment for me is that we didn’t put the game to bed at the end because we had plenty of chances.
“I thought Alex was the best player on Saturday – the shining light in a poor display – and it was the same again.
“The only criticism I’ve had of him this season is the final product, but he’s put it together and I think he can score more from us. I’m really pleased for him.”
There was a blow for Pompey just before the break, with Bishop collecting an injury and not returning for the second half.
Mousinho said: “That’s probably the only negative. I saw it happen just in front of me and he went over on his left ankle.
“It’s swollen up and it’s just one of those things that we seem to be getting hit by quite a lot at the moment.
“We’re looking hard at the injuries, but there’s nothing you can do about that. The pitch is fine, it wasn’t a bad challenge – it’s just bad luck.
“Colby is just wearing the boot as a precaution at the moment and hopefully it’s not going to be too bad.”