The powerful image Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley spotted against Cambridge that proves Blues can compete with Sheffield Wednesday, Peterborough and Ipswich this season

The goals scored, the football on display, the players that manager Danny Cowley has recruited this summer, that current third-place position in the league and, of course, an unbeaten start to the season.

But there’s another key ingredient the Blues boss has spotted which is adding to the air of optimism presently enveloping the club – squad harmony.

It’s a major factor in any successful team, as far as Cowley is concerned.

And it’s something the manager is keen to maintain, especially when building a squad that’s capable of bidding for promotion.

Work goes on behind the scenes to ensure a togetherness remains, not that it can be manufactured.

So imagine Cowley’s pleasure when he caught sight of it in action against Cambridge on Tuesday night when Connor Ogilvie scored the Blues’ fourth goal of the night.

It prompted more celebrations among the Pompey players – but there was another key ingredient added to the mix – the substitutes.

And that’s something very specific Cowley looks out for in order to gauge how successful a team can be.

He told The News: ‘As much as I like them (the team) as players, I also like them as people.

‘I like what they stand for, I like the way that they work, I like the way that they’re coming together

‘A meeting we had with the players on Thursday morning was very much a meeting about mentality.

‘Sometimes you go after the technical and tactical, or the physical, but today it was about going after mentality – the test of conceding , the character shown afterwards and the bravery to keep playing the way we want them to.

‘The last video we showed was the Connor Ogilvie goal (against Cambridge), the fourth one.

‘It showed the togetherness, with Connor jumping into Jay Mingi’s arms – and that’s defining for me.

‘Whenever I watch an opponent, I always watch how their subs celebrate – it always gives me a feeling about how together the group is.

‘Sometimes you see substitute benched wallowing in self-pity, putting themselves before the team.

‘But in really good teams that spirit and togetherness is evident, the players who aren’t playing are just as happy as the players who are in the team and happy for them – and that, to me, is really powerful.’

Despite the many positives surrounding Pompey at present, Cowley admitted there remained plenty of work to do.

He added: ‘I think there is a lot to like at this point.

‘We’re very respectful that this is very early in out journey.

‘We have a lot of work to do to find the level of consistency we need to be able to achieve what we want.’