Despite the previous season's heroics, Primus was not used regularly in the early part of Portsmouth's first Premier League season. Harry Redknapp had ditched his 3–5–2 formation in favour of the more conventional 4–4–2 and partnered new record signing Dejan Stefanović with Arjan de Zeeuw. During December, Portsmouth were in a terrible run of form and Redknapp decided to bring one of his most reliable players back into his plans for the derby match with Southampton. In spite of a 3–0 loss, Primus retained his starting place for the remainder of the season.