John Mousinho hailed a fine Pompey performance at both ends of the pitch against promotion rivals Peterborough.
And he felt that the 4,019 fans who made the trip up to London Road were equally deserving of praise following a 1-0 victory.
Kusini Yengi was teed-up by fellow substitute Gavin Whyte to score the game’s only goal in the second half, having earlier replaced the injured Christian Saydee.
And with Will Norris not having too many saves to make against his former club, Mousinho was delighted with what he saw.
The Blues boss said: “It was a superb result. At this stage of the season that’s what it’s all about, but I thought it was a great performance as well.
“We had a couple of things to adjust at half-time against a really good Peterborough side – if you get the slightest thing wrong they can punish you.
“You need to get the press just right and land on those second balls otherwise they will really get at you.
“Christian went off with a hamstring injury and we think it’s a neural one like he’s had before, rather than a tear. Hopefully it will be no longer than a couple of weeks out.
“With the way the game was panning out, and knowing that Colby can do that 10 position, it made sense to get Kas on.
“It seemed like it would be the right decision and it’s obviously paid off – if you’re a centre-half facing those two then it’s going to be a difficult proposition.
“I thought it was probably the best defensive display of the season and because we pressed so high up the pitch, it can leave you exposed.
“But Peterborough look extremely good if you drop off them and let them have possession, so we took the risk and restricted them to so few chances.
“Gav came on and was excellent – we rightly expect a lot from him and so we know that’s what he can produce.
“We broke from deep and Kas got at his man and then put the ball in the net, so I’m thrilled for him. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave him out of the starting line-up.
“There was pure relief at the final whistle and it was a special day because that’s probably the best away atmosphere I’ve experienced.”
Paddy Lane was a notable absence when the teams were announced, while Joe Rafferty was only on the bench.
Mousinho explained: “They were both ill and Paddy was slightly worse, so we sent him home, but both were in the starting line-up on Friday.
“So for Sparkesy and Swanny to come in and produce the performances they did was absolutely incredible.”
