John Mousinho: How Portsmouth have brought the best out of international star

John Mousinho believes Pompey’s newest international has become a better player since his south-coast switch.

And he expects Kusini Yengi to continue flourishing in the English game.

The 23-year-old arrived at Fratton Park in July from Western Sydney Warriors for an undisclosed fee.

After netting on his debut against Bristol Rovers, he has totalled five goals in nine appearances, while registering two assists in the 2-1 win at Leyton Orient in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

The instant impact earned him an Australia debut, appearing off the bench in last week’s 7-0 victory at Bangladesh, while he was an unused substitute in Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Palestine in Kuwait.

And Mousinho is enjoying watching Yengi blossom.

He told The News: ‘Kusini has definitely improved since he’s been here.

‘He’s had the game time, he’s got the goals, and would probably like a bit more game time, I completely understand that, it’s fine. But one thing he has done is adjusted really well.

‘It could have been a difficult one coming over from Australia for his first taste of English league football, it’s different, it’s tough, it’s physical. It’s not like the A-League and that’s not a positive or a negative, it just isn’t.

‘He has adjusted really well and in a positive way. He got himself that Australia call-up and we are absolutely delighted for him.

‘His display at Leyton Orient was really pleasing from our point of view because the first assist was one touch, the second he took two touches, and that's what we want to get with Kusini.

‘We want him to make those decisions early, not taking too many touches. We know he’s a real threat physically, if he does get the ball and wants to run at defenders, we want him to knock it past them, go and put the ball into the back of the net.

‘He had been in Australia’s under-23s squad before he came here and I suspect was going to be called up for September’s international (against Mexico) after bursting onto the scene for us and scoring all those goals - and then got injured.

‘Now he’s made his international debut and it is nothing less than he deserves. We’re really, really pleased.’

Yengi missed six weeks earlier in the season after suffering ankle ligament damage when Christian Saydee fell on him in training.

Now he’s battling to break into the League One leaders’ line-up.

Mousinho added: ‘It’s going to be one of those things with Kas where he needs a block of training, he needs games.

‘He needs to keep going with all of the things which have made him a good player up to this point, but also all the areas that we’re working on.’