He's back: Why Portsmouth boss is backing rejuvenated favourite to kick-start his Championship career

The striker has still to fire since stepping up to the Championship with the Blues, failing to score in eight appearances amid some uncharacteristically underwhelming performances.

However, he was back among the goals on Tuesday night when he netted twice for Australia in their World Cup 2026 qualifier 2-2 draw in Bahrain.

Mousinho wasn’t surprised, having noticed a steady improvement in the centre-forward’s displays heading into the international window.

With Yengi returning to Pompey’s training ground on Wednesday, the head coach insists the 25-year-old is now available for Saturday’s trip to Blackburn.

And he’s banking on his Australia star turn on finally igniting his Pompey campaign.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Kas flew back pretty much straight after the game, thankfully they were only in Bahrain so, it wasn’t like he flew back from Australia.

‘It is never ideal when you have players travelling that distance in the international window, but we want players to compete at international level, we want players to start and score like Kusini did.

‘Seeing Kas on the scoresheet in the week is really good news for us - and he’s a consideration for the weekend.

‘There have been some real upturns in Kas’ performances. He was much better in the second half against Hull, for the Plymouth game he looked much more of a threat in certain moments, although there were things he could have done better.

‘I thought he had a shaky start at home to Preston after 10-15 minutes, but he really grew into the game and looked a massive threat.

‘What we haven’t seen so much of this season is the goal threat which Kas provided before - and hopefully those goals at international level will kick-start his season.’

Since making his international debut in November 2023 against Bangladesh, Yengi has scored six times in nine appearances for the Socceroos.

However, his last competitive Pompey goal was against Wigan in April, although there have been periods when sidelined through injury.

Now the return of Colby Bishop has created more competition for the striking spots, with the Australian having started the Blues’ last three fixtures.

Mousinho added: ‘Hopefully we’ve got players that don’t need to wait for competition to actually drive themselves to better performances.

‘I know sometimes that happens, but our message to players is that, regardless of who is there behind you, if you’re not playing well enough then you aren’t going to find yourself in the starting line-up.

‘There is competition particularly up front, we’ve got quite a few options there. There’s plenty for us to pick from.’