Goals from Jaden Philogene and George Hirst have given Town a 2-0 half-time lead over Portsmouth at Portman Road.
Sindre Walle Egeli was handed his full Blues debut as Town boss Kieran McKenna made three changes from the side which started the abandoned game at Blackburn last week.
The 19-year-old Norwegian came in wide on the right for Kasey McAteer, who dropped to the bench.
Sammie Szmodics returned to the side as the number 10 with Chuba Akpom also among the substitutes.
One of the changes was enforced with Jacob Greaves suspended for his red card in last week’s curtailed fixture. Cedric Kipre, who came off the bench at Ewood Park following the dismissal, made his league debut for the Blues alongside skipper Dara O’Shea at the centre of the defence.
Portsmouth made five changes from the team which was beaten 2-0 at home by Sheffield Wednesday last week with former Norwich youngster Josh Murphy missing out again through injury and on-loan Blues forward Conor Chaplin ineligible against his parent club.
Keeper Josef Bursik made his Pompey debut, while Josh Knight, Luke Le Roux, Mark Kosznovszky and Yang Min-hyeok were all making their first Championship starts.
Ex-Town midfielder Andre Dozzell was in Pompey’s midfield and in seventh minute found his way into referee Andrew Kitchen’s notebook for hauling a marauding Jens Cajuste to the ground on halfway, his skipper Colby Bishop having failed to fell the Swedish international despite his best endeavours.
Two minutes later, via the first serious attack of the game, the Blues went in front. O’Shea intercepted a poor Yang pass on the edge of the Town area and Cajuste powered his way through midfield before feeding Philogene on the left. The former England U21 international brought the ball inside before smashing a shot across Bursik, off the inside of the post and into the net.
The ex-Aston Villa man celebrated his fourth goal in two games in front of the scoreboard, all four having come within 60 minutes of football at Portman Road.
Having gone in front, the Blues remained in control with Cajuste and Azor Matusiwa confidently running things in the centre of midfield. On 12, the on-loan Napoli man fed in Szmodics on the left of the box but the linesman’s flag was raised.
Philogene shot over in the 17th minute after Walle Egeli’s mis-kicked volley had fallen to him just outside the box, then a minute later Szmodic did well to reach a ball down the right and cut it back to Hirst at the near post but the one-time Portsmouth loanee scuffed his effort across the face of goal.
In the 26th minute, with Town still dominant, Hirst flicked a high ball into the path of Szmodics down the right, the Irish international taking it on into the area, turning inside a defender before shooting straight at Bursik. A ball cut inside to a teammate would have been a better option but Szmodics always looked to have one thing in his sights having not scored since the 2-2 draw at Fulham in January.
Pompey’s first chance came in the 31st minute, Yang getting beyond Darnell Furlong and standing up a ball to the back post where Zak Swanson headed to Alex Palmer under pressure from Cajuste and Leif Davis.
Two minutes later, Le Roux joined his midfield partner Dozzell in the referee’s book for a late challenge on Szmodics just inside the Town half.
Portsmouth should have levelled in the 34th minute when Adrian Segecic played in Yang with an excellent pass, putting the South Korean international through on goal to the left. However, Palmer was out of his goal very quickly to claim at the on-loan Tottenham man’s feet.
Pompey had a brief spell on top but without seriously threatening again, but in the 41st minute the Blues doubled their lead via their most neatly worked goal of the season so far, one very much of the type which became so familiar in the promotion campaigns.
Matusiwa fed in Davis on the left and the full-back took it on before playing a ball across the six-yard area to Hirst, who turned home at the far post.
It was the Scotland international’s third goal of the season and second in two games, and perhaps the sweetest against one of his old sides. It was also Davis’s first assist of the season.
With the half in two additional minutes, Cajuste swept a pass out to Philogene on the touchline on the left, the wideman moved it on to Davis, who cut back to the edge of the area where Chaplin, now on loan at Pompey, has so often been lurking in the past.
Referee Kitchen brought the half to an end soon afterwards with the Blues well worth their two-goal lead having put in their most dominant first 45 minutes of the season.
The early goal settled any nerves and from there Town were well in control with the team looking more of a cohesive unit than they had against Sheffield United before the Blades’ second half collapse or in the quagmire at Blackburn last week.
Championship defences seem unable to deal with Philogene playing out wide and cutting in with only one thing on his mind, while Cajuste again looks like he should be playing at a level above. Davis will be pleased to have notched his first assist and Hirst to add to his goals.
The Blues should now go on to win comfortably with the second-half subs likely to be looking to catch the eye and grab goals of their own.
Town: Palmer, Furlong, O’Shea (c), Kipre, Davis, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Walle Egeli, Szmodics, Philogene, Hirst. Subs: Walton, Johnson, Young, Taylor, Nunez, McAteer, J Clarke, Akpom, Azon.
Portsmouth: Bursik, Swanson, Poole, Knight, Ogilvie, Dozzell, Le Roux, Minhyeok, Kosznovszky, Segecic, Bishop (c). Subs: Killip, Williams, Devlin, Bowat, Matthews, Pack, Swift, Bianchini, Kirk. Referee: Andrew Kitchen (Durham).