Ex-Shrewsbury and Bournemouth man backed for Portsmouth lift off after Peterborough star showing

Now the head coach has backed the Blues’ new scoring hero to hit lift off.

The 21-year-old grabbed a maiden Pompey goal on his seventh outing in Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup encounter.

It capped an impressive all-round display from the former Bournemouth youngster, who has swiftly won himself many admirers since his summer switch.

Saydee also netted in the subsequent penalty shoot-out after the match finished 1-1, although couldn’t prevent a 5-4 defeat to the Posh.

Yet his showing was eminently a bright spot during a disappointing result, leaving Mousinho hailing the striker’s talents.

He told The News: ‘Forget the goal, I thought the performance was the thing that really made me pleased about Christian.

‘He was excellent, a constant thorn in the side of the centre-halves, he gave them a really tough time. I imagine he’s a really, really difficult player to play against.

‘If he can add those goals to his all-round play, then he’s going to be a real threat.

‘Christian has been brilliant for us so far and it was a really well-taken goal which will be a massive boost in confidence. Hopefully he kicks on and scores many more.

‘He’s got that first goal out of the way, so there’s no pressure building. Certainly pressure hasn’t come from us because we just want Christian to be able to perform through the 90 minutes and give what we know he can give.

‘But sometimes internally the pressure builds when you’re a centre-forward particularly coming into a new club, so that goal has lifted that.

‘Although he’s a really confident lad, which you can probably tell by the way he plays. He backs himself physically, has a really good touch, and is also very good technically for someone his size.’

In addition to his goal, Tuesday night represented the first time Saydee has completed more than 62 minutes since joining Pompey.

Indeed, he lasted the full match, enabling the former Shrewsbury loanee to still be present to successfully take a penalty in the shoot-out.

Mousinho added: ‘It was really good to get 90 minutes into him as well.

‘Building him up to 90 minutes is one of the things we’ve been working towards. Now the fitness levels are there, he’s got the energy.

‘Christian can really lead the line in terms of what we want to do defensively. We see it week in, week out with Colby in terms of what he does and the way that he presses.

‘He gets his rewards off the back of that with his goals – and I think Christian can be the same.’