Portsmouth have been to hell and back in recent seasons, winning the FA Cup in 2008, coming runners up in 2010 and playing away at Dagenham and Redbridge in League Two action by 2013.

Now they've scraped the bottom and are the way back up, heading the League One table after a series of strong displays this time out.

They narrowly missed out on a top six finish in their first season in League One, but their stay looks like being brief as they set the pace in a tough field of competitors.

They're fending off Sunderland and Barnsley, two sides with bigger budgets who have no intention of hanging around in the third tier.

They're also keeping Luton Town at bay, the ambitious Hatters following them up last season from League two and also hoping for redemption after time out of the limelight.

They key for Kenny Jackett now is to hang on to his key players as the transfer window opens, but will he be able to do that? Ronan Curtis has been making the headlines, but is that misguided? Should he be more worried about Jamal Lowe leaving?

Here's three reasons he should be worried more about losing Lowe than Curtis.

Lowe's pace is integral to the Portsmouth way of attacking, through the centre and on the wide right of the three players behind the striker.

He get's around Hawkins or Pitman and wins lots of second balls and bits and pieces.

He's their best-kept secret. Last season his input was overshadowed by Pitman's goals, this time out by Ronan Curtis' rise to prominence.

He's actually key to them and if he emerges from the shadows it is bad news.

He doesn't just add goals, but assists too and whilst there's plenty of scope to get a player behind the front man in the Curtis role, there's not many incredibly quick wide players available at low cost in the lower divisions.

He'd be a lot harder to replace, almost certainly.