If Fleetwood was one step back, perhaps Pompey's win over MK Dons was two steps forward.
It certainly was in terms of league position - the Blues went from sixth to seventh with the defeat in the north west, but up to fifth with a 3-1 success over MK at chilly Fratton Park.
Andy Cannon's first Pompey goal gave them a blistering start but Alex Gilbey converted the rebound from his penalty, saved by Alex Bass, to level before the break.
John Marquis and Marcus Harness scored either end of the second half to clinch the points on a night when numerous promotion rivals drew with each other to help Pompey's cause.
Pompey had the start they wanted after Saturday's setback and took the lead in the fourth minute when Jordan Houghton attempted a pass out of his own box, only for the alert Ryan Williams to intercept and set up Cannon for a simple finish.
The Blues failed to buuld on it and Gilbey took advantage when he followed up Bass's save from his penalty, awarded for a foul by Ross McCrorie in first half stoppage time.
McCrorie made up for that four minutes into the second half when he set up a finish for Marquis.
Carlton Morris was sent off for MK Dons after a last-man foul on Marquis before Harness made sure of up the win when he latched on to a Sean Raggett header to score the third.
Boss Kenny Jackett told the club website: 'We always needed that extra goal at the end to see MK Dons off, but overall I felt that we deserved the win. We made five changes to the starting 11 because we have a lot of games and we didn’t look like we had enough spark on Saturday. But we certainly got that back.'
Pompey: Bass; McCrorie, Burgess, Raggett, Brown; Close, Naylor; Williams (Harness 77), Cannon (McGeehan 77), Curtis (Seddon 90+3); Marquis. Subs not used: MacGillivray, Whatmough, Pitman, Hawkins.
Referee: Kevin Johnson
Attendance: 16,577 (170 away fans)
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