Pompey got off to a fast start last season to climb to the top of the League One table, only to eventually fall away.
But Joe Rafferty believes they are better equipped this time around to maintain a promotion challenge.
The Blues have yet to be beaten in the league and head into Saturday’s Fratton clash with Port Vale on the back of four successive wins.
And Rafferty feels that is down to a lot of hard work off the pitch, as well as promising performances on it.
The defender said: “I think we’re a lot more together as a squad this season and there’s just a better feeling all round.
“Players are a lot happier with all the facilities around the place and it’s given us a platform to build on.
“Sometimes it’s just the small things like food and the changing rooms. It might only be adding one per cent, but those areas have definitely improved.
"I think we’re a lot more together as a squad this season and there’s just a better feeling all round."
“That’s down to the staff behind the scenes and they’ve done brilliantly well to drive the standards here.
“There’s also a change of personnel and some of the signings that we’ve brought in have been excellent – both offensively and defensively.
“So it’s really good for us at the moment and now we’ve just got to continue working hard to keep that going.
“We’ve got a few people missing on Saturday and we know that Port Vale are really strong because we’ve watched some of their games. We’ll be expecting a difficult test.”
Conor Shaughnessy headed home deep into stoppage-time on Tuesday evening to secure a dramatic victory over Wycombe.
Rafferty said: “It was a brilliant night – getting a last-minute winner under the lights at Fratton Park was special and the place erupted.
“It was absolute bedlam and you can see the kids going wild. I’m thinking that they’ve got school tomorrow!”