Exceeding expectations: Portsmouth boss hails new goal-scoring hero - and finding ex-Wigan man's best position

John Mousinho admits Callum Lang’s blistering Pompey goal-scoring impact has exceeded expectations.

Yet he’s convinced the number 10 role is responsible for bringing the best out of the former Wigan man.

The impressive Lang has netted four times in his opening seven appearances for the Blues, including a debut goal at Oxford United in January.

The 25-year-old is rapidly proving quite a talisman after swiftly settling into life on the south coast to reinvigorate Pompey's promotion push.

And while Mousinho acknowledges his recruitment was a ‘no-brainer’, he has been pleasantly surprised at the sizeable goal return so far.

Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘We possibly didn’t expect Callum’s return to be quite this good, but signing him was a no-brainer.

‘Callum has flexibility across the front line. We don't play him as an out-and-out 10, he’s a very different 10 to what we’ve played previously this season, compared to Myles Peart-Harris, Alex Robertson and Christian Saydee.

‘With any of the players, the only thing we focus on is their strengths - and trying to get them to impose their strengths on the game. It’s about having Callum in goal-scoring positions and we feel he’ll get into more goal-scoring positions being slightly more central.

‘His impact is exactly why we brought him to this football club. We know he’s done it at this level before, he’s scored plenty of goals, and won promotion with Wigan.

‘We signed a player who had already played quite a few minutes this season, he hadn't been out injured, and, while there were a few issues towards the back end at Wigan, nothing we couldn’t overcome with a couple of training sessions.

‘Callum hit the ground running physically, while it helped coming on at Oxford and having an immediate impact. It really boosts confidence.

‘You go from the Oxford game into the Northampton game and he scores again, so all of those things have helped him settle really quickly.’

Lang netted three times in 29 appearances during the first half of the season for Wigan, having primarily been asked to operate on the flanks.

Yet the previous season he played League One football, the attacker recorded 18 goals as the Latics won the 2021-22 title under Leam Richardson.

Mousinho added: Taking Myles and Alex as number 10 examples, they drop in far deeper and try to get much more involved in the build-up, whereas Callum stays away and certainly tries to have an impact at the top end of the pitch.

‘If you look at his goal-scoring record, that probably tells you everything you need to know about where he arrives in the box and how good his finishing is.

‘He has affected games in that 10 role, although can play on the left being a bit more narrow and plenty of people have also seen him have success as a right midfielder or right winger.

‘I do like Callum when he’s a bit more central and close to the goal. I wouldn’t see him as an out-and-out chalk-on-your-boots winger.’