Portsmouth boss John Mousinho revealed how happy he was with Kusini Yengi‘s performance at the weekend but may have to hold the attacker back from the starting spots for now.
On Saturday, Pompey were down 1-0 at Fratton Park against Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers with the game ticking rapidly towards its conclusion.
As a fourth and final throw of the dice, Mousinho brought new signing Yengi onto the field to make his debut in the hopes of salvaging a point from the game.
The 24-year-old arrived from Western Sydney Wanderers in the summer but was nursing an ankle problem during pre-season, leaving him slightly behind the rest of the squad with regard to being fully match-fit.
Nevertheless, in stoppage time, Joe Rafferty floated a ball into the mixer while Fratton Park waited with bated breath as the Australian leapt like a salmon to head the ball in off the post, sending the ground into pandemonium.
It was a debut goal for Yengi, who had barely been on the pitch for ten minutes, as he rescued a point for his new side.
However, head coach Mousinho remained coy about throwing the forward into the first team, alluding to Yengi not being ready just yet [quotes via Portsmouth News]:
“He did brilliantly on Saturday coming on for seven minutes and scoring a goal. Kas is really popular around the place and it’s a big transition coming over from Australia to this country.
“There are also the demands of what we’re asking him to do, that’s a tough thing, and one of the reasons why we are introducing him to the fold relatively slowly.
“He’s such a strong, powerful, physical specimen as well, we don’t want him to break down, although he just wants to go and go and go and go”, the boss continued.
“Sometimes with Kas, we have to hold him back, just making sure he knows that he’s building into 10 minutes. He can do far more than that, but we’re just building into that.
“He is so quick and dynamic, you really have to make sure those players are ready for full league action in case they pick up an injury.”
Writer’s View
Many supporters may be bellowing for Yengi, or ‘Kas’ as Mousinho calls him, to start for Portsmouth tomorrow night as Pompey travel to Forest Green Rovers in the EFL Cup.
However, the manager knows his squad better than anyone as well as the demands of football in England’s third tier.
Without being match-fit, Yengi could sustain long-term injuries and so it is in the player’s best interests to remain on the bench for the time being.
