The January transfer window is not a period Portsmouth fans have loved over the years. Although a lot of that is scarring from failing to sufficiently strengthen a table topping squad in 2019. The past two years have actually been pretty good.
Callum Lang was a brilliant addition last January, while Myles Peart-Harris and Owen Moxon both made notable contributions to promotion. The year before, Ryley Towler, Paddy Lane, Di'Shon Bernard and Matt Macey were pretty decent for a team not really going anywhere.
This feels like a huge month for Portsmouth and not just on the pitch. After looking in serious trouble a few months ago, the Blues have been hovering around the dreaded dotted line in the Championship but have given themselves a chance of survival.
Whether they stay in the Championship or make an immediate return to League One is likely to come down to some small margins. Recruitment this month might make the difference.
What Portsmouth really need, is players who can immediately come into the starting 11 and make a swift and positive impact. Early additions at their two biggest positions of need are an encouraging sign. Thomas Waddingham is also close but is one for the future.
There's risk with every signing. Rob Atkinson has barely played for two years, but while he isn't match fit, he is at least fit. Portsmouth will have to manage him carefully in the coming weeks, but if they do, they will have a top half quality centre-back for the final months of the season. He will become the first defensive name on the team sheet.
Similarly, Isaac Hayden will need time to build up match sharpness, but he's a player with plenty of Premier League experience who helped Queen's Park Rangers steer clear of the relegation zone in the second tier last season.
Both have only arrived on loan but now is the time for deals that focus on the next few months rather than the long term. The club's strategy of looking to buy young players to develop is understandable and found at a lot of clubs, but it's not a blueprint that worked especially well in the summer.
Portsmouth brought in six players for somewhere around £300,000 last off-season. Only one of them, Nicolas Schmidt, is going to have had a positive impact on the side this campaign. He looks like a decent goalkeeper and a good find. It doesn't help that Ibane Bowat and Jacob Farrell will manage just a solitary appearance between them due to injury.
Abdoulaye Kamara and Harvey Blair may go on and become good players at this level, but they aren't anywhere near ready yet. Elias Sørensen didn't cope with the step up to the Championship. Selling him for around what Pompey paid for him last week was a very smart piece of business.
The other thing Portsmouth desperately need is better luck with injuries. Conor Shaughnessy and Regan Poole's continued absence at the back has hurt the side. Pompey cannot afford to lose any more key players for an extended period.
Josh Murphy, Callum Lang and Colby Bishop look at home in this division. Notable injuries to any of those three would be very tough to overcome. Pompey would likely be in a much worse position if Bishop had not made his miraculous recovery.
A 46-game season may well come down to the wire. Even just one more key addition this month could make all the difference. Loan or permanent doesn't matter right now.