Most are agreed - Pompey aren't going up or down at the end of their second season in League Two. But manager and players will, as one, know this is no time for winding down towards a summer break.
A strong end to an up-and-down season can give the Blues momentum to take into a new term when the pressure to get promotion will be ramped up. And it could go a long way to securing a place in the club's plans for many of those involved.
They go into the visit of second-placed Shrewsbury nine points off seventh place - a rather pointless statistic, in all probability - and in fact three points off the top half.
There are eight games left - plenty of time then for Andy Awford and his players to cement a finish in that top half, perhaps one higher than was achieved a year ago.
Shrewsbury look like bringing Pompey's toughest test of the run-in as they look for a win that would strengthen their hopes of automatic promotion. Though it says much for the level of consistencyt needed to succeed at this level that the Shrews are second despite having lost more away games (eight) than they've won.
Striker Matt Tubbs told The News: We are going into these last eight games with a positive attitude. We haven’t got much to lose now but we want to finish as strongly as possible.
‘You never know what can happen if we get the results and a bit of luck goes our way. A good finish to this season can be massive for us to take into next season. But I think a good finish to this season can be massive for us to take into next season.
‘If you finish strongly, other teams will see that and it gives everyone a bit more optimism. Even if we fall short of the play-offs, we can show that we’ve had a strong second half of the season and improved on where we were a few months ago.
‘So we will fight for every lost cause and push ourselves to the limits. We will get our break and then we will be ready to go again.’
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