‘Firmly in our thoughts’: Portsmouth boss’ call over unleashing Kusini Yengi on Bolton Wanderers after Fratton mauling

John Mousinho admitted he faces tough selection calls at Bolton as he considers letting Kusini Yengi loose in the potential title decider.

The Australian international is straining at the leash to feature at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, after giving one of the division’s top defenders in Ricardo Santos a tough night last December.

Yengi shone was on the scoresheet as he produced a man-of-the-match performance in the 2-0 win at Fratton Park.

The 25-year-old was used along with Colby Bishop in the 3-1 win over Shrewsbury last weekend, with Mousinho having to decide whether to continue with both me or use one or the other in a huge clash against Ian Evatt’s men.

Mousinho said: ‘Kusini’s always firmly in our thoughts. He is when we’re selecting any side.

‘We’re very lucky to have two centre-forwards in that position, who are firing and we have ‘Christian Saydee who we brought in as a forward firing as a number 10.

‘And for the first time we started with Christian and Colby last weekend, which gives us a fantastic added option when we’re looking to try to fit these players in.

‘Having the likes of Kas around, and how good he’s been this season, means he’s definitely in our thoughts for the weekend.’

The striking call is not the only tough decision facing Mousinho, with who starts in midfield and a right-back other areas of focus.

Meanwhile, the likes of Josh Martin, Ben Stevenson and Ryley Towler missed out on a place in the squad last weekend, with Tino Anjorin and Tom Lowery both likely in contention for Bolton.

Mousinho added: ‘We left a couple out at the weekend. It’s always a tough decision, but we’ve gone through quite a few games where we’ve only been able to name the 18 fit pros we’ve had.

‘We’ve been really lucky that we’ve been able to do that and we’ve had a decent squad to cover the injuries we’ve had.

‘We’ve got a few more bodies back at the minute, which makes team selection difficult and it makes squad selection difficult.

‘We’re leaving some really good players out of the squad, and that has been a hallmark of what we’ve been trying to achieve with the squad and how we’ve built things.

‘It’s always a very good sign. There’s been times when we’ve felt a bit thin, but at the moment it feels like we’ve got a good group to select from.’