Portsmouth boss Tony Adams admits several of his fringe players did themselves a favour with their performance in last night's UEFA Cup thumping of Heerenveen.

"I asked the players to be more resilient. I asked for a fantastic defensive display and I got one," said Adams.

"We have been beating ourselves lately by shipping goals and I wanted us to be tough to beat again.

"A lot of the players who started here are fighting for new contracts and that's fantastic.

"If they can prove they are good club men and are willing to fight for the cause I'll give them new contracts."

The likes of Marc Wilson, Richard Hughes and Hermann Hreidarsson all did themselves justice on the night.